Spirit Police
by Monkeybandit2
Summary: He never really wondered about space... Then again he never really wondered about the afterlife either.
1. Chapter 1

**Right. I don't own anything.** **Has that not been established yet?** **I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning!** **This story is for entertainment purposes only!**

 **With that said... To anyone who has read Soul Universe, you know I said that I at least toyed with the idea of a Bleach/GXP idea...** **and sadly I am apparently weak to my own ideas.** **This was only made worse when it seems that this particular territory is essentially unexplored...** **MEANING I'M THE FIRST TO WRITE IT! (At least in FF)** **THE GLORY IS MINE!** **HAHAHA—(Chokes on a fly, losing any sense of being cool.)**

 **Anyway, on with the reading!**

Spirit Police

Chapter One: Carpe diem

Sogo Apartments, Yonzo

When one thought of a college or a university student they would think that they would live in the big city. They would think of heavy traffic and an innumerable sea of people moving to and fro that one had to cross on a daily basis for _anything_. That was not the case for him. No, it was a little town. A moderately sized village really. One which the most luxurious feature about it was a little shopping district with an equally small family owned movie theater. Otherwise it was a place of homes and farmers, and a fairly secluded shrine off in the hills. It was a quiet place for sure with next to no worries for anyone. For Ichigo Kurosaki, whose apartment resided in the town rather than the city, the most stressful thing he could think of on short notice was completing any at all assignments for his classes by their deadline. That and catching the bus on time after accidentally sleeping in.

 _Ring-Ring-Ring! Ring-Ring-Ring!_

Of course there was something else that would creep up now and then. It usually came in the form of a phone call... typically from his boss whom he suspected was going senile in his old age.

With a sigh he picked up the phone and held it away from his ear. "Hello?"

"ICHIGO!" And his suspicion paid off. "QUICK! IT'S AN EMERGENCY! THE REPUTATION OF THE RESTAURANT IS IN JEAPORDY!"

Ichigo's usual scowl deepened as he scratched his head and let loose an irritable sigh. "Did Tenzo skip work again?"

The older man was a blubbering mess. "PLEASE! IT WOULD DO IRREPARABLE HARM TO THE HOJIN NAME IF A CUSTOMER'S MEAL WAS DELIVERED TO THEM COLD!"

He groaned and scratched his head some more. He looked to his desk where a smattering of papers and books lay before sighing. "Which address?"

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" the man cried enthusiastically cried. "It's the Masaki Residence by the way."

"HEY WAIT— _Click!_ " He stared at the phone in his hand for moments on end before planting it on its hook. "It's always me who does this," he grumbled before reaching for his uniform.

XVX

Streets

The uniform was basically a red shirt with black sleeves with a gold trim for a border for both the cuffs of the sleeves and the border of the two other colors. If anyone was working at the restaurant then they would be required to wear black pants and shoes. As for its deliverers, the standards were far more lax in that one only required to wear the shirt when on duty, even then they could roll up the sleeves if they wished. As such he didn't bother to change out of his jeans and rolled up his sleeves before hopping onto his bicycle, subsequently darting off into the streets with perhaps more thrust than he intended. Thankfully not a grand many roamed about the town this time of day.

In no time he navigated his way through the streets and skidded about a corner to the same street of his place of work, the restaurant named Traditional Delight. In plain view was the bald, white haired, heavyset owner standing outside with a carefully wrapped box held out in an outstretched hand. Without either wasting a beat or slowing down Ichigo easily snatched the box out of the man's hand in his passing as he darted off onto the road proper.

"YOU'RE THE PRIDE OF THE HOJIN, ICHIGO!"

Rolling his eyes Ichigo soldiered on. When he neared the forested tree line of a nearby hill he couldn't help but suspiciously glare at it, especially at the house beyond it that could only be glimpsed at if one looked carefully enough. It wasn't as if he didn't like the people there. In fact for the most part the most he probably suffered by the more well known inhabitants of the Masaki residence was a friendly greeting from Sasami and Noike when they were getting groceries from town.

Scratch that. He skidded the bike to a grinding halt just to take a good look at the bento-like box that was his cargo. More specifically he was looking for a name. While it was rare, any name other than Washu was guaranteed an uneventful trip. That or at least one that wasn't filled with booby traps. Unfortunately for him it read Washu... the demon inventor of Yonzo. That or Urahara's second cousin twice removed or something... from Hell. He wouldn't be too surprised if she was indeed related to that semi-insane shopkeeper back in Karakura even if it was only by adoption. It would only explain a great many things if that were the case, being a member of his family. At any rate it did explain why he was called into work on his day: Tenzo most likely fled to the next town over to avoid this particular delivery the moment he heard it was for the Masaki Residence. And unfortunately Ichigo was stubborn enough to do it despite knowing madwoman had something lying in wait for him... To make matters worse he was too far from either his apartment and the restaurant to at least equip a helmet and goggles; it wouldn't have helped much, but it was something at least.

With a groan and eyes squinted shut he reluctantly pushed on.

XVX

Dirt trail

Since he moved into the town years ago he had heard his fair share of oddball rumors and stories over the years. Some of them were the regular type of legends one hears in a small town, superstitions and stories grown out of control, but almost all of them were related to the Masaki residence in one way or another. Tales of mysterious explosions, of UFOs darting in and out in the distance, even a story of some kind of floating rock bathhouse somewhere behind the house just to name a few. But the one he hated most outside of Washu, which he and every other delivery agent in town could testify about being an unwilling guinea pig for one of her bizarre inventions lying in wait, was the 'Flying Woman'... Personally he wanted to call it a simple ghost story, the kind made up by someone to scare others rather than wish it true for what it implied. But he seen her as well, flying through the air in the woods, often carrying with a large saki jug over her shoulder when he saw her. It always got his hopes up that on some level his spiritual energy was returning to him once more; it made him think that there was a chance he got to see his old friends once more and return to a life he was beginning to miss. Whatever she was, she alone was reason enough to avoid this neck of the woods lest he would be reminded of the hard truth that he was only human now since the war.

Thankfully he didn't spot her. Even better yet he wasn't ambushed yet by a trap or some kind of mecha invented by that red-haired midget. In fact the entirety of the ride was incident free throughout the entirety of the forested trail. Now all that remained was the last leg of the journey, the notorious Gap. It was a tree-less stretch to the three story house on the lake. It was also where Washu liked to put her heavy hitters to 'test' the reaction times and overall capabilities of the poor saps that delivered anything to her. What was worse was that she often took the time to bury them weeks in advance to better hide any at all disturbances in the soil, hiding them like trapdoor spiders and other such predators. As such it certainly didn't allay his suspicions in the least that the devil-woman herself was sitting out in the open with a white flag planted right next to her when he arrived at the edge of the forest. It certainly wouldn't be the first time she tried to convince anyone to come closer, much less himself.

For better or worse however dawdling would only prolong the inevitable in this specific job.

Squinting at her bored expression, he moderately peddled toward her. A careful glance was spent on either side of him in hopes of spying some form of trap; to his left was the hillside where a lake sat at the foot of which; to his right was a small grass plain and carrot fields where most of the ambushes came from in the past. A quarter of the way through and so far nothing happen—

She suddenly turned her head towards the lake with her bored expression still fixed to her face yet it was obvious she was curious nevertheless. Tensing, he slowed his pace so as to look to the lake as well. Ripples were forming on the surface of the lake. To accompany it a low but pronounced, almost beeping wail was emitting in its direction. Immediately he stopped and turned to glare at her, and for a brief moment he could swear he saw some kind of... floating black laptop hovering midair before her that she was idly typing away at. By the time he blinked it was gone without a trace, her hand now on her lap and the sound dissipating in the meantime. He continued to blink as she lazily reached behind her and pulled out a bullhorn which she brought to her lips as she faced him. "Look! That wasn't me and I'm really hungry! Now can you bring that over before I starve to death?"

He suspiciously squinted at her once again. Reluctantly he began to peddle to her once more. The second he did so however the sound came back, and in force no less. Whatever it was, the beeping portion of it was gone only to be replaced with a low timbre howling that roared with such force that it made him want to instinctually cover his ears. But he didn't. If anything it was evidence enough for him to hightail it to the midget woman as she typed into the phantom laptop once more in a frenzy. And hightail it he did by powering each thrust of the peddle with as much annoyance, frustration and confusion as he could. But as fate would have it he wasn't even halfway to her from the safety of the trees when _something_ crashed into the water with more than enough force to create a towering geyser that easily dwarfed the house... and judging from the sheer width of it, rivaled the house as well if not more so... by then he couldn't help but gawk as he came to a dwindling halt in sheer shock.

"I'm really starting to hate this place," he mumbled as the tower came down. It was a last ditch effort, a poor one at that thanks to his dawdling, that much he knew in the back of his head, but he drove the bicycle through the carrot field next to him to avoid what was bound to happen.

 _Crash!_

Sure enough, though he dared not look back to confirm it, a wave rumbled into life from the lake and crashed into the hill with a heavy crash. But that wasn't the end of it. Just as he was sure a wave had sprang to life, so to was he sure there was a torrent of water rushing forth from the crest of the hill despite the receding waters behind it. He wasn't sure how much water managed to spill over the edge and onto the field in a rush to spread itself out but judging from the rumble it was a significant amount to say the least. It was only when the sound was lessening as a whole that he deigned to look back, slowing as he did so to compensate his lack of focus. The wave, what was left of it, was indeed degrading at an increasingly rapid pace. In fact what was left and nearing him was nothing more than a bit of a surge on the coast at this point that would rinse the bottom of his tires at best should it reach him.

"Thank you! And here's a little something for the trouble."

"Huh?" When he looked over at the speaker, who incidentally sounded like the demented inventor, bane of all delivery boys, only to find no one. Blinking, he looked to the small basket on his bike which he kept the package. It was gone. In its place were a few thousand yen bills. And no matter where he looked or how hard, there was simply no one as far as the eye could see in a carrot field. On the ridge of the now damp hill however was the only woman he met that was shorter than Rukia, her back turned towards him and the farming fields that surrounded him as she quietly munched on her meal from an overly familiar box... Not wanting to question how she moved so fast or even how she slipped past him altogether without even the slightest bit of notice on his part he turned the bike and began to gently peddle for the nearest path available lest he tracked and struggled through mud thanks to the now crawling, almost nonexistent surge that kept traveling into the field.

As he peddled though he couldn't help but notice that from the other side of the hill a bob of blond hair arose in a rush. Not even a second later the entirety of the person, a woman he guessed in some kind of uniform of grays, blues, reds and even a gold patch on the shoulder of the uniform, seemed to be talking to the madwoman of the Masaki Residence. She was scratching the back of her head and laughing about something as she handed the much shorter woman a manila envelope. Or at least it appeared to be one. Regardless, the shorter woman accepted it and nodded before saying something he couldn't even hope to hear. Whatever it was it was enough to frazzle the taller blond before her and look over to the house the moment Washu pointed to it: it seemed the house took the brunt of the wave. The inventor tilted her head with a smile, in the meantime the floating phantom laptop appeared once more in midair. With her smile still in place she lifted a hand with her index extended out like a bent hook and pressed a button. When the blond looked to her with a nervous smile, finger scratching her cheek, she gawked in utter horror as if she knew exactly what Washu had done.

 _GRMF!_

Whatever it was, something erupted from the lake and took off like a jet despite being unseen to the naked eye. Whatever it was and deciding to err on the side of caution of caution, Ichigo stopped on the dirt path leading out to the carrot fields and waited for whatever was to come to pass.

The taller woman began to frantically yell at the inventor who was impassively eating her meal. After seemingly having enough of being yelled at she began to walk towards the house, the laptop following her all the while as the blond trailed behind her, berating the red-haired woman all the while still. Eventually Washu reached up to the laptop idly pressed a button before she began to descend the hill towards the house whereas her stalker contented herself with yelling at the madwoman from atop the hill.

 _Kr-Chck!_

Narrowing his eyes, he almost mechanically turned his head to the source of the sound to find a metal plate now sticking out of the nearby ground. Underneath that plate was a red mono-lens staring up at him... "Don't you dare."

 _Broomf!_

From the depths of the earth came the rest of the robot, a bipedal humanoid mecha with a series of four tentacles for each 'arm.' Likewise a similar mecha with six spider-like legs wormed its way out of the ground behind him. Off in the distance the woman was facing a similar situation with other 'unique' robots activating and emerging from their hiding places. "... You know, I knew something like this would happen if I came here," he drawled to no one but himself.

Immediately they lunged at them.

 _SMASH!_

They didn't catch him however. Years of coming to this place gave him a good idea as to how to better dodge them without having to abandon his bike short of necessity through sheer timing alone. As such he easily drove himself out of the way from the mindless charge of the pair of mechas and sped past other such models of varying types and designs digging themselves out of their burrows all over the place. The blond by the house was handling herself well too despite being ambushed. Like himself she was running down the very same path he was heading for, the 'main road' of the Masaki Household as far as he was concerned. Unlike himself given his advantage with the bicycle, as she sped past the mechs she occasionally had to punch or kick one of the insufferable machines out of the way of her sprint. Yet not all of the machines were trying to stop and tackle either one of them, namely the ones farthest away who were, incidentally, along the path into the woods. Unfortunately they were often the smartest by relativity as far as Ichigo observed over the years. When they could they would gather in large numbers to form a pseudo wall of metal bodies and limbs. Sometimes they literally became one by combining bodies and parts together. Other times they formed a giant robot too, which was coincidentally the second chief complaint amongst everyone unfortunate enough to come here thanks to the madwoman; complaint number one was the sheer numbers which often lead to the non-lethal downfall of nearly poor sap that came here. At any rate though, seeing them gathering as a barely organized army was enough to have the woman come to a stop with scowl etched on her red-painted lips.

 _Rrrt!_

With her scowl still in place she jerked her head and was for a brief moment surprised to see the only other human skid to a halt next to her to also scowl at the horde of robots awaiting them. Unlike herself however he turned to her with his usual scowl, if only a bit annoyed if nothing else. "You wouldn't by chance have a flash bang or something on you, do you?"

She only offered him a sad smirk before turning to glare at the mecha army. "Sorry. Only a standard issue blaster."

He raised a curious brow at her and took better notice of her uniform. She was definitely a woman who was physically fit yet took enough time to keep herself a beatific appearance between her short blond hair, perfectly trimmed eyebrows and painted lips. She was wearing gray pants over black dress shoes meant for work. Above it and seemingly patterned into the pants, of perhaps vice versa, was what seemed to be a almost corset-like red vest without buttons which dominated the region of her stomach. Whatever it was it was obscured by a dark blue jacket, or rather a coat, that was as form fitting as the rest of her clothes and was garnished by a thick horizontal red stripe above her left breast. The collar of the ensemble was white and buttoned but instead of a necktie of any sort a rounded rhombus of a light colored amethyst gem sat in the middle whereas on the shoulders of her coat sat triangular blue gems. The sleeves of her jacket however were divided in half by both red and white, the red claiming most of the outer arm and formed the cuffs of her jacket whilst the white took everything else. He didn't however see a gun of any sort on her which he could only assume was what she was eluding to. Even if there was a gun though, it would only do so much good against the army that awaited them.

"We may have to hoof it then," he surmised. She turned to him with a confused glance.

"Come again?" In response he pointed to the crowd.

"See those flat tops they have for heads?"

"Yeah...?"

"Either get a good jump in or knock one over and use it as a stepping stone. Either way if you get on top of those things and move fast enough they won't be able to knock you off before you clear the entire lot of them... usually."

"Well, it sounds like you got this planned out!" she offered with a giggle as she began to stretch with an eager, excited but small smile.

"Sort of," Ichigo half mumbled as he cracked his neck. He looked down at his bike and with a widened scowl he got off of it, kicked the stand on it and promptly left it behind in a slow march towards the line of mechs. Soon enough he was joined in by the blond woman.

"My name is Amane by the way," she offered nonchalantly.

"Ichigo," he returned as he stretched his arms. "Do you want to go first or should I take point here?"

She giggled a good natured chuckle. "How sweet of you to offer a lady to go first." She pleasantly sighed and looked to the horde that awaited them at the mouth of the forested road. She then looked to him with a smile. "Why don't you show me what you have in mind exactly?"

He perked a brow at her but shrugged. "Alright then." He drew a deep, meditative breath and sighed. "Just try to keep up. I never really done this with other people before so you might have to be more careful. For what it's worth though the worst they tend to do is either give you whiplash or just straight up pummel you if you do get caught."

"Good to know!" she chirped.

Without further ado he took to a running start towards the crowd with Amane hot on his heels, unperturbed in the slightest by the sudden movement. Together in a single file they rushed the first line that waddled, crawled or outright charged out to meet them in return. Upon meeting the first one Ichigo leapt up and kicked high to plant his foot in the robot's equivalent of a face, busting it without much effort, and used it as step to propel himself forward in another jump towards another mecha that was close by. He didn't look back but from the brief bang of shoe leather against metal he was confident Amane had a similar thought in mind just as he landed atop of the mech's flat head and leapt onto another like a stepping stone before it could try to retaliate. In short order he jumped onto another in a growing succession to reach the other side before they could try to counter him en masse. Unfortunately a few limbs already rose up as they caught onto what they were doing and tried to grab, pinch or entangle him as well as Amane in their passing, the woman laughing almost giddily all the while. "Is this _really_ Washu's work?" she chortled as she easily caught up with him despite a slight detour. "She must be really getting old if this is the best she can do!"

"Come again?"

Ichigo almost slipped and fell in his sudden halt, Amane meeting a similar stop as well. Even if neither of them had stopped a wall of limbs suddenly jutted up in a near perfect wall to cut off their escape. On top of that the last line of mechas parted from the horde to form a second defensive line. Regardless, the both of them hesitantly turned to look over their shoulders in varying states of apprehension to find Washu serenely smiling at them, her eyes closed, from atop one of her mechs. Once more Amane was laughing nervously whereas Ichigo was solemnly awaited for the other shoe to drop, though nervous all the same; right next to the diminutive woman was the phantom laptop at the ready.

"Objectively I am quite old. In fact I stopped counting how many years I lived quite some time ago," she admitted with a smile. Unfortunately it only furthered the latent suspicion both Ichigo and Amane had that she was up to something. It was only made worse when she delicately held a finger up and hovered it over an unseen key. "I draw the line at insulting my intellect though. Especially if you don't have at least an Earth Bachelor's Degree to at least prove you know a thing or two for me to even consider letting it slide."

 _Bip!_

A strange noise saturated the air causing the two to look up to see dark pockets of space appearing out of thing air above them. From each hole an orb lazily flew out and drifted through the air. In the middle of each one was the same type of red lens the mechs beneath them had.

"Please tell me they're not some kind of drones."

"Excellent deduction Ichigo!" Washu chimed. Whether she was being sarcastic or not was lost on him as each orb in perfect unison turned towards them. From their horizontal sides a trio of guns popped out from each side.

... Slowly Ichigo raised his hand.

"Yes?" Washu addressed him like a teacher would a student, a cat-like grin on her lips.

"Can we get a ten minute head start?"

The woman smirked and shook her head. "You're free to go. Sorry about my marionettes attacking you by the way. I forgot you were there till it was too late." He scowled a heavier scowl at her in response which she took in stride as she pointed at the blue-eyed blond next to him. "You however are not so lucky."

"Hey! It's illegal to kill a Galaxy Police Officer!" Amane growled out in her defense. In return Washu sighed and shook her head.

"They're set to stun, silly girl. Besides, isn't it also illegal to trespass onto private property and cause the destruction of which?" the smaller woman pointed out.

"I already apologized and said it was an accident! And besides! you sent my ship flying off who knows where!" she defended herself once more. In the meantime Ichigo palmed his face. Again he raised his hand to grab Washu's attention.

"Yes Ichigo?"

"If she apologizes for questioning your abilities..." he then waved the hand in the air in the direction of the drones as if it were a point on its own, "would you be willing to drop all this if she just apologizes?"

"But—!"

He pointedly held up a hand at Amane, silencing her and letting her fume while Washu hummed to herself. As she did so she eyed the taller woman as she pouted at Ichigo.

"Sure, why not?"

The blond haired woman bristled slightly before sighing in defeat. Promptly she turned to Washu and reluctantly bowed to her. "I'm sorry."

"Eh, good enough."

Neither had a chance to prepare themselves in the slightest before the horde of robots beneath their feet suddenly jerked toward the house in a unified march. The second 'wall' of mechs likewise followed the first wave yet parted for the two people now sprawled out as surprised heaps on the ground. The orbs in the meantime disarmed themselves and slid back into wherever they came from. When Ichigo looked up, mirrored by Amane with a groan, he scowled at the mad inventor as she cheekily waved at them as her robots filed one by one down the hill and out of sight. One however grabbed his bike and returned to them to plant it roughly a few feet away before returning to the descending army of mechas.

"Well... that was nice of her," he mumbled as he got up.

"I suppose it could've gone worse," Amane reluctantly admitted with a sigh as she too pushed herself onto her feet. "But damn it!" she growled, "she still could've at least not strand me on this planet!" She turned to him and chuckled softly. "No offense of course."

He only grunted in response as he got onto the bike and kicked back the kickstand. As much as he would've liked to ask what she meant by being stranded but there was only a certain amount of craziness he was willing to tolerate in a given day. Besides, knowing his luck there was something just waiting to add to it right around the proverbial corner. Even if there wasn't anything, he wasn't exactly in the mood at the moment to somehow be drawn into something he had no real knowledge in once again.

A slight huff drew his attention to the now turned backside of Amane as she seemingly fiddled with something out of his sight. Whatever it was it certainly warranted her to cant her head down to focus on it. Whatever it was it drew a pleased but soft "ah-ha!" from her which in turn had her turn about to face him with an all-too-obvious smile of someone wanting to ask a favor from him. "Do you mind if I ask you for a ride?"

He knew it. Still, it didn't hurt to indulge her a little. "Where to?"

She brilliantly smiled at him. "Do you happen to know where a Kiriko Masaki lives?"

XVX

Yonzo proper

Amane pleasantly sighed as she cuddled against his back, not that he minded too much. While it wasn't particularly designed nor modified to support two people, there was only so much room for two people to sit on the bike without toppling the other off. What he did mind though was something he couldn't quite call her out on... For the longest time since leaving the woods he could almost swear she was studying him with a hidden smile despite not watching her himself. It was as if she was sizing him up, remembering the encounter with the mechs, and making little calculations within her head much like Yoruichi had done on occasion some years ago when he was training under her amongst other things. But since he had no means of evidence rather than simple paranoia, he supposed he could count himself lucky that she hasn't deigned to tease him. At least not yet.

Upon spotting a familiar corner he listed the bicycle lazily to the right before making a moderate turn into the street. Thankfully even if he somehow wasn't familiar with this part of town there weren't many houses around. Even if that was an issue, even if he outright forgotten where her house was, the woman whom Amane knew and the very one who he came to know over the years by way of her younger brother was minding her own business by sweeping the front gate.

Wearing a white buttoned blouse with a blue collar while also wearing a blue ankle-length skirt, over the both of which was a plain white apron, the auburn haired woman looked up in curiosity and pleasantly smiled at Ichigo. She opened her mouth to greet him but an equally curious glance spent on his passenger had her gawking at the sheer sight of Amane cheekily smiling back at her, waving her hand in greeting all the while. "Hi Kiriko!"

"A-Amane?!"

Quietly Ichigo looked to one and the other at alternating times the moment Amane stepped off from his bicycle. Obviously they knew each other judging how familiar Amane was in approaching her and even hugging the frazzled woman as she seemingly tried to sort out the 'how' and the 'when' between how he and Amane met... in fact from the way she was sputtering it would seem like she was on the verge of the thought he may have unwittingly stumbled on some form of secret that she was trying to both deny and confirm at once. Whatever it was it would probably be better if he came back later; curious as he was, even he knew it was wrong to investigate without due cause. "I'm off then," he spoke up before slowly peddling away.

"Wait! Ichigo!" He jerked to a stop and turned his head to her with his usual but slightly perplexed scowl. She managed to slip out of Amane's grasp and stood a fair distance from him. As she was now she was fidgeting in place, her hands digging into her apron and fisting themselves as she struggled to find the right words to express herself. Every now and then she would steal a quick glance at Amane whom stayed back, arms crossed across her chest, with an unapologetic grin on her face as she drank in the scene.

"Kiriko?"

"Yes?" She snapped her head to him with a flustered blush on her face.

"One thing at a time," he offered. "If you ever want to talk to me, you know where to find me. I'm off tomorrow anyway."

"R-right." She turned her head and coughed into her hand. "Thank you," she all but mumbled.

"Oh relax!" Amane spoke up at last as she snuck up on the other woman and threw an arm around her to bring her into a jovial hug. "He and I haven't really talked much since coming down from Tenchi's place!" Amane explained with a light laugh. When she stopped it looked as if she remembered something. With a newfound grin she let go of Kiriko and stepped past her to the scowling man once more. Once she was close enough she leaned in too close to be comfortable with a semi-salacious smile on her lips. "By the way, I really enjoyed our time back there," she purred. "That was the most fun I had in a long time." She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and quietly reveled at the blush that rushed to his cheeks. Seemingly out of nowhere she then handed him a transparent black pad. On it was a solid, dark green band near the top bordered with a dull gold trim. At the center of the band of green, encircled by an oval with its ends jutting out a small distance and further made pronounced by a field of white was the words Galaxy Police written in English. At the bottom right of the tablet was an almost cartoonish sticker bearing the letters GP in a red circle atop a rainbow decorated by a few stars. "You know, the GP could use someone like you, handsome."

And with that his burning cheeks grew hotter. "Right, well, I'm going now!" He uncomfortably cleared his throat and peddled away without realizing he was leaving behind the offered item. With a grin Amane was quick to correct that by placing it in the basket on his behalf before it was beyond her reach. When she turned back to Kiriko she gave her a cheeky grin to contrast the look of abject horror on the other woman's face.

"You didn't!" she softly gasped as she tried and failed to disprove what had happened.

"I did!" Amane laughed. Once more she crossed her arms underneath her bust, turned and contently watched Ichigo disappear around a corner with a smirk. It was only when Ichigo was completely out of sight and thus out of earshot that Kiriko, after taking a moment to collect herself, spoke up once more.

"I don't know what it is that you're thinking but you know full well that on the face of it his application would be rejected on the grounds of the technological level of his planet of origin! And that's even _if_ he makes it as far as immigration!" Kiriko almost growled as she glared daggers at the GP officer. In return Amane turned her smirk back to her.

"Yes, well, I have a hunch," she answered as simply as she could while enjoying herself for as long as she could. A moment later she grinned as she turned to the woman and leaned in. "Or is it," she purred, "that the reason you're so upset by this is that you're afraid someone will up and snatch your boyfriend right from under your nose?" She was positively giddy to the point she had to contain herself from outright laughing in Kiriko's face in the split second it took for Kiriko to turn red in the face and sputter incoherently till the words "WE'RE NOT DATING" screeched out from her lips. Instead of laughing upon hearing those words, though a giggle did leave her, she grinned a tad predatorily at the other woman. "Oh? Does that mean I can date him then?" She turned to her side once more and brought a finger to her lips, a blush dusting her cheeks. "I mean he is kind of cute you know." Out of the corner of her eye she spied on Kirko's positively livid expression. It was more than enough to break her out into a laugh. "I'm just messing with you!"

"JUST WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR THEN?!"

That only made her laugh harder.

XVX

Ichigo's apartment, Sogo Apartments

He stopped by the restaurant to not only inform the old proprietor that Washu's order had been delivered but to see if there was anything else in need of delivering. By then however Tenzo had been tracked down and brought back to the restaurant kicking and screaming up until it was made clear that Ichigo had done his job... again... for the umpteenth time in a row... not that he entirely blamed him. Hanzo can call them over exaggerative nuts till the day he keels over and dies but they knew the truth. Everyone who delivered _anything_ meant for Washu knew the truth. Unlike most others though he was probably one of the few stubborn enough to keep coming back despite knowing what was lying in wait for him. Incidentally enough a number of businesses both in and out of town, including the postal service, tried to contract him on an almost weekly basis to make such deliveries over the years thanks to that. In retrospect that may also be the very reason Hanzo thinks that anyone other than Ichigo was either on something or else superstitious by rule of thumb when they, like Tenzo, ran off the second Washu's name was mentioned.

But that was neither here nor there at the moment.

As it stood now he was back in his apartment and for the life of him he couldn't concentrate on his schoolwork. To make matters worse he was struggling with it as of late in terms of focusing on it. In fact it was getting to the point that his latest excursion with Washu and by extension Amane was almost a welcomed distraction. More to the point it was taking some considerable willpower not to ogle that pad Amane left for him in his basket to take home. As it was right now it was resting peacefully on the corner of his desk, partially covered by the cover of his open book.

He groaned as he rubbed his temples. To further try to distract himself from distracting himself he plopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling for a time. When he grew bored of that he turned his head to the side and eyed a bokken laying against the wall, his last resort. Sighing, he got up, grabbed the wooden sword reminiscent of a katana and meandered his way to the middle of the room, though a bit further toward the back to avoid accidentally smacking the overheard light as he began to practice simple strikes.

Having never joined a kendo team or any other extracurricular club of any kind since his part-time job kept him from going absolutely stir crazy most days, he didn't have much of a social life. Not even the internet kind. Sure he went out for drinks every now and then, mostly when invited by classmates and coworkers alike, and occasionally had supper with Kiriko and her family, again by invitation, but he largely kept to himself and his studies. In fact the only people he regularly conversed with about anything was in fact Kiriko, his coworkers and boss, and to some extent the Yamada family who ran a nearby small grocery store out of their own home. Maybe even Washu if he was being generous; she did tend to literally pop up out of nowhere much like Kisuke in order to 'interview' him about the latest 'test' she put him through...

It wasn't by accident though... it was an unfortunate desire to avoid any chance of being unintentionally dragged into an activity that inadvertently reminded him of his time as a Soul Reaper on an overt level during group outings to avoid being ostracized: fantasy movies, fantasy games, cafes with some sort of magical theme, and the occasional role-playing group in parks when he was out for a stroll often had him scowling more so than usual whenever their opinion of an afterlife came into play. Even the bokken made him feel apprehensive at first when he first collected it on the advice from a fellow student in regards to focusing on his work. Thankfully with time what apprehensive power it had over him had faded, allowing him to indeed clear his mind at least a little.

But as time went by it also had the unfortunate propensity to let his mind wander on some occasions when they were prevalent in some manner. In this case it was what had happened at the Masaki Residence today.

Locals, delivery folk really, have taken to calling him a veteran of sorts in regards to Washu's antics. Four years ago when he first came to the household to deliver a meal for Washu he was beset by static turrets with beanbags for ammo, activated of course by motions sensors. It was a bit tricky and he was sure as hell bruised, his bike dented quite a bit, but he made the delivery. When he came again he had to contend with them again only their original positioning had been changed, some of which were camouflaged in the forest; he managed to avoid all of them by crawling on the ground after nearly being pelted by the first one. By the third time around she started to add low powered mines... It only got crazier from there. Up until now he never really questioned as to why she did what she does to be honest. If anything the most he came to suspect as to her reasoning behind it all was that, like Kisuke, while she meant no real harm in what she did, she was bored enough to get her kicks out of his and everyone else's expense in overcoming her devices. In fact he couldn't help but suspect she was holding back as a means to quietly let him get accustomed to her antics for later 'projects.' That said, and her robots aside, she certainly never pulled out anything as technologically advanced as those drones however, never mind the 'black holes' they came from. Even the 'laptop' floating next to her was something new to him. And those times she appeared out of nowhere, he had long since presumed she was lying in wait for mischief's sake. That or like Kisuke she was a Shinigami in hiding but that wasn't an avenue he wanted to pursue. Regardless, between her devices, whatever the hell happened in that lake, and Amane, this entire day was a curveball from what he came to perceive as the norm, sad as it was considering what he lived through.

He stopped in mid-chop and looked to the pad that was partially obscured by the textbook on his desk... Could it be that the world wasn't as defined as he thought it was? That Washu wasn't just some reclusive mad scientist who simply didn't share her inventions with the world at large? Or that Amane was indeed some kind of police officer if the pad's title was anything to go by? Could Kiriko be working in the same organization as her given not only her familiarity with but complete surprise at Amane's presence as well? It certainly wouldn't be the first time he was shown the world was more complex than he originally guessed.

With his mind filling with more questions than it did answers, he relented to his building curiosity at long last and made for the desk. He sat down and put the wooden sword down before slipping the tablet out from under the book to look at it in the light of his window. With a frown his thumb gingerly skimmed the side to see if there was a switch of some kind. What he found however was a crevice. He turned the object in his hands to look at the side where the nail of his thumb scratched at an apparent opening to the pad itself. To make sure it was what he thought it was he gave it a quick once over for each edge only to find the divide perfectly bisecting the entirety of the item. With his curiosity and precaution satisfied he thumbed it open and blinked at the two pages that awaited him. Immediately he closed the evident plastic pamphlet and held it to the light only to see the entirety of the folder was transparent. "Interesting..." He opened it once more and held it to showcase its back to him only to see the material wasn't darkened in the least by the paper on the other side. "Huh..." It was certainly not what he was expecting to say the least.

Since he had no means to explain how it was so or at least guess, he gave up and returned the pamphlet to its proper side to read it... or at least try to. There were a few images printed on the left page: What appeared to be a colossal space station roughly shaped like a D was one such image. A fleet of space ships was another. Lastly next to a colored stenciling of a woman in a similar uniform that Amane was wearing was an image of a coastal, tropical region. Unfortunately the promotion they were trying to convey was all he could gather since nothing else was written in a word he could remotely understand. To double check that it wasn't some kind of illusion or trick he turned to the front cover to ensure it was indeed written in English before trying to read the pages once more. But no. It was not English on the inside, never mind a language he at least heard of. Like the images he was able to discern only one other item though. At the bottom of the second page was obviously an application boiled down to what he could infer to be the bare essentials for applying: Name, date, town maybe? It was still written in the odd language but he was confident he had the gist of what they wanted. Next to the three lines was an blank box the size of his thumb, most likely another requirement if he were to guess.

His hand twitched and slowly reached for a pen only to be stilled. "What am I doing?" he mumbled as he withdrew his hand. Instead he began to tap it against his desk in a steady rhythm as he thought about what he could be very well doing:

On the face of it he could very well be doing police work... in outer space. Interplanetary work perhaps? Stationed, like being a part of an army? Or, accounting for his own ignorance, would he be some sort of undercover resident officer of Earth if this was indeed what he thought it was? There was only so much that could be discerned from pictures alone. Even if that weren't the case and by some miracle he could read the strange text before him, why should he join? He wasn't wanting in his life as of the moment. His grades were good. He didn't have any enemies to speak of that he was at least aware of. Most of all if all else failed he could find fulltime work within this quiet town that had little to no troubles and hopefully find a loving woman who may be willing to call herself his wife one day... But...

He palmed his face and quietly sighed as he dragged his hand down it.

As much as he wanted to think otherwise, he knew why he had trouble concentrating lately... Try as he might to distract himself within reason with his job, studies and whatever else to come up, his mind wandered back to his old adventures whenever half a chance presents itself, hence his avoidance of certain things. It was something he had hoped to quietly resolve on his own terms by putting some distance between himself and all that he knew. Moving out of Karakura and transferring schools, it was indeed an awkward decision that he had discussed with his family, but they understood. They weren't particularly enthused by it but they understood when each day was becoming more and more troubling for him whenever his friends ran off to fight Hollows whenever they appeared, his sister Karin looking out for him and solving spiritual matters when she could in his stead, and his other sister Yuzu trying to cheer him up whenever he was in a brooding mood... Up until now he would've liked to say he gotten over it, having sacrificed his powers for a world at peace. But no. In the end he was running from it and ignoring it when he could only for it to come back as a quiet desire that didn't want to be ignored.

He slowly rubbed his eyes and eyed the application once more. If he signed it, would he simply be pursuing a career solely to make himself feel better? To better ignore the quiet void that gnawed at him in the idle moments of his life? Trading one adventure for another to feel useful once more?

His hand clenched and he hung his head... If that was the case then that was nothing short of being selfish. It especially wasn't a trait a police officer should have, to be self serving. But...

He looked up and glanced to the phone. It was an old rotary one that came free with the apartment, namely because the last tenant left it behind by accident and didn't bother to come get it back. It wasn't anything fancy but it got the job done. Though for what he had in mind it may not be a particularly good idea though: Calling Kiriko to talk to Amane. On one hand perhaps speaking to the 'officer' would help him come to a decision one way or another. On the other hand if his theory was right and Kiriko was indeed a colleague, judging from her reaction then perhaps he wasn't meant to know anything at all.

Well, even if factoring life as a spirit, he had only one life to live.

He reached over, picked up the receiver and dialed in the number. It didn't even make it past the second ring when someone picked up. "Masaki Residence, Kai speaking."

He quietly released a sigh of relief. "Hey Kai, it's Ichigo."

"Oh! Hey man! If you're looking for my sister, she left already with this hot chick. I don't think she'll be back till tomorrow afternoon though."

"No, that's okay. Thanks though."

"Oh man! C'mon! How come when you call you only want to talk to Kiriko?"

He frowned ever so slightly as he considered his response. He looked to his book for ideas and grinned at the first thing his eye caught. "Okay, answer me this: How do you calculate the strength of a material?"

"... with a hammer?"

He rolled his eyes and switched topics on him. Was it mean? A little. But it was a fun nevertheless. "Ockham's Razor verses Schrödinger's Cat, go!"

"What?"

"Who were the opposing commanders in the Battle of Shiroyama?"

"I may have slept through that class..."

"How much wood can a wood chuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

"Okay it's one thing that you're messing with me but at least be reasonable about it!"

"Alright then. What is _the answer_ to life, the universe and everything?"

"Forty-two."

"Satisfied now?"

"Yep."

"Good. I'll see you later."

"Alright man. Have a good one!"

He sighed again as he hung up the phone. A part of him was relieved whereas another wanted to outright groan; he dodged a bullet but was no closer to coming to an informed decision. Once more he stared at the application and quietly drummed his fingers along the desk in thought.

Taking Kai at his word for it Amane was gone. Even if he were to sign this then would it simply be pointless now with her being unable to deliver it, assuming Kiriko was against it? Did he have what amounted to an overly fanciful paperweight now? Or was there a secretive recruiting office somewhere within the world he would have to deliver this to?

He groaned and rubbed at his face. Such thoughts and questions weren't going to do him any good for a final decision. It was either toss it out now or apply and figure out the details later. It was one choice or the other... either one would make all the difference in his life, that much he knew.

With a frown he caved in and written in his name, the date and his current address. He looked to the box for a thumbprint and immediately dug into the drawers of his desk for an inkpad. Specifically the one he received as a promotion down at the Yamada store the other week that he never bothered to throw out considering he hadn't much need for one. He mashed the pad of his thumb into the pad and quickly applied the freshly inked digit against the box in the paper in a firm press that resulted in an unblemished copy of his thumbprint.

With a sigh he closed the folder and looked at the cover, at the title deceptively written in plain English. He wasn't exactly proud of himself but he didn't feel especially guilty either for what it was worth. Even if he was utterly wrong and he just signed up to be with a bunch of mental cases, at least it would give him something to do. Preferably in his free time. If it came down between getting his degree or hanging out with nuts then he could simply and vigorously kick them in the head if they have an issue with it.

His thoughts abated for now, he returned to his studies with a clear and undistracted mind.

It wasn't till hours later when he was getting ready for bed that the pad began to glow a brilliant blue. It wasn't even half a minute later that someone began to politely knock on his door when he began to investigate it. Curious, he opened the door and found a dark skinned man standing before him with a smile whilst wearing a blue and white variation of Amane's uniform, only with a longer coat that went just past his waist, and wearing a fez-like hat. His expression, though smiling, seemed a bit sleepy as it was tranquil. Still he was more than alert enough to salute him upon the opening of the door.

"Good evening, how do you do?" He offered a hand, the same one he saluted with. "I am here to verify and collect the application if you would be so kind."

"... Sure... one second."

 **A/N: It didn't end on a strong note, I'll give you that, but I couldn't think of anything better.** **To be honest, and if you are aware, I wanted it to end on the spaceship but I honestly couldn't foresee that happening in a more realistic setting concerning Ichigo.** **The only path which would've led to that was just plain silly to me:** **his family coming in for a surprise visit, having him sign it without knowing better while he is distracted, and like Seina's family they ship him off whilst he is sleeping...** **Scratch that.** **It's just ridiculous considering it was Ichigo;** **he may not be an active fighter any more as far as this chapter is concerned but I'm sure he would've at least woken up and looked about in a groggy state if by some means he sensed the presence of another if absolutely nothing else.** **Another route involved Amane distracting Ichigo by not only staying with him but also occupying his attention whilst a bribed (or enamored) deliveryman had Ichigo filled out the application without looking...**

 **Yeah... Anyway!**

 **Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Right. I don't own anything.** **Has that not been established yet?** **I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning!** **This story is for entertainment purposes only!**

Spirit Police

Chapter Two: Incursio

Sogo Apartments, Yonzo

"... Actual results may vary. Void where prohibited."

Minutes after essentially being caught flatfooted by one Captain Warren Placeholder of the Galaxy Police, or GP for short, Ichigo had invited the man in, gave him some tea that he managed to scrounge up, and given the man the aforementioned application to the GP, he had shown the college student a promotional recruitment video of the Galaxy Police. It took a fair bit of tact not to at least snort at some of the things he had seen: apparent criminals being shot and little messages for points erupt from their defeat bodies, a highly decorated officer half covered with medals, literally, and smugly showcasing the victory sign... the magic hand... But, ridiculousness aside, it only served to prove his suspicions true in the end: Even if he were to proclaim the GP a hoax of some sort just for the sake of being stubborn, it was next to impossible to refute the technological marvel that was the movie he had watched was broadcast via the gem-like cufflink on the man's cuff; the audio emitted was so perfect, so pervasive, he half thought the video itself was emitting each sound and word even as it ended. Furthermore a phantom tablet liken to Washu's 'laptop' had materialized above the man's wrist before the video was played, more to the point it appeared directly above the 'gem' after some adjusting beforehand.

"Are there any questions?"

Ichigo regarded the man for a second before bringing up his hands on the table in which they long since came to sit at, grasping one another to form themselves into a loose ball and let loose a quiet breath. "Not per se," she said. "But I would like to state for the record that I wasn't actually able to... _read_ the pamphlet there."

The captain's brown eyes widened in mild alarm. "Really? Our apologies then." The man retrieved the booklet from the corner of the table and opened it. Smiling, he pressed the corner of one of the pages outside of Ichigo's view. "It's a bit of an unused feature but each application does come equipped with a voice activated translator. In fact most people have trouble finding the button that activates it thanks to an old design error. There we go." He handed the booklet to the college student. Upon taking it and righting it within his grasp he couldn't help but gape a little to see the entirety of the previously alien script had been turned into Japanese kanji. Chortling, the older man continued. "Please read away. A part of my duties when interviewing applicants is to help prevent ensure there is no misunderstanding when it comes to embarking in one of the most noble professions there is!"

Looking to him once more, Ichigo nodded at the captain before perusing its contents. In short order it was easy to see it was as promotional as they came: tracks in various fields of law enforcement, benefits, "see wondrous new sights and meet new people," the works. What sort of caught him by surprise however was the mentioning of shipping and cargo as one of the career tracks. Rereading it, Shipping and Receiving was was indeed a valid career.

"Shipping?"

The man smiled as if knowing what he had meant. "While the Galaxy Police is indeed funded by tax payers of the Galactic Union, by offering competitive shipping rates for cargo, mail and other such commodities we have effectively reduced the burden placed on our tax payers galaxy wide by having most of our funding come from imports and exports. In fact we not only created new jobs because of it but we have also have quite a few divisions solely dedicated toward the safe handling, security and transportation of cargo."

"I see." He read the documents once more and eventually closed it before looking to him once more. "If you don't mind me asking, is there something of trial period?"

"Yes."

Ichigo blinked— he wasn't quite prepared for such a ready answer. Like before the man smiled in a knowing manner and began to elaborate as he began to cup his hands together on the table much like Ichigo had done earlier. "In GP we understand that not all of our applicants and even cadets enter without some reservations. Some are simply trying to find themselves, some may even be burdened with responsibilities they feel they couldn't be met within the GP, and others may just simply might not feel that life n the GP is not for them. Even then some cadets have been known to drop out after our internship programs have taken effect where we have them become better acquainted with potential and prospective fields of work the GP has to offer; such duties could range from as simple as cargo management to being a special operations operative, within reason of course. We do take great lengths in ensuring that out cadets during this internship are as safe as they can be for the sake learning purposes."

Ichigo frowned a little. "Out of curiosity, is the internship elective by any means?"

The man nodded. "Assuming you stay that long, after your completing first assignment as determined by your personality and aptitude you are then permitted two elective fields of your choosing if you so desire. You would have to discuss it with your administrative councilor first for so as to not overly disrupt the classes you would have to take in the GP during your stay."

"Thanks," Ichigo looked back to the booklet in his grasp before jerking back to him. "Still, about the Trial Period?"

The older man frown in mild confusion before he realized where he left off. "Of course, sorry." He cleared his throat. "At any rate, it's not uncommon for a great many of our recruits to be in the middle of their own schooling. While normally we would discuss this with the applicants parents or legal guardian in most cases to determine the best option at that time," he paused for a moment as he reached to his side and retrieved a clipboard made of the same material as the booklet in the college student's grasp. "Here," he said as he handed it to the younger man who in turn handed him the plastic encased application in exchange. "Considering the costs involved with merely enrolling in an institute of higher learning anywhere, the Trial Period Program is to help potential recruits and cadets who believe they are not suited for life in the GP," he explained just as Ichigo began to read the form on the clipboard. "Should they drop out of the academy within a certain period of time, the GP will do everything within its power to help you pick up where you left off and, if failing that, reimburse you for tuition paid for and even some learning supplies if the case is valid. Keep in mind however if you drop out after your trial period is over then the GP is not held responsible for financial losses incurred for leaving your school."

"How long is the "Trial Period" anyway?" Ichigo asked as he skimmed the form: It was indeed stated on the form, in Japanese thankfully, that it was four "Standard Galactic Months." Ignoring that it was mostly informing him of what Warren had just said, that another department would handle his case and at least try to preserve his enrollment for a time. If not then they would indeed reimburse him and, upon request, provide any relevant grades to any college or university of his choosing should he try to enroll in it. Other than that it simply needed him to name the college he was currently attending, the date of his original enrollment and even his student ID number. In the meantime it seemed as if Captain Warren was fiddling with that tablet again.

"Officially it is four months in the Standard Galactic Calendar for convenience. As to how long that is in relevance to say here, it should be..." He paused for a moment and typed some more into the tablet. "It should be roughly three-hundred-sixty days for Earth, give or take a few hours."

Ichigo gawked at him. "That's almost an entire year here!" he squawked in surprise.

The man slightly smirked in a good natured fashion. "Time _is_ relative for some people," he pointed out. "Hence the need for a _Standard_ Galactic Calander."

Ichigo worked his jaw as he stared at the man for a moment. "Fair enough," he relented before looking at the form once more, scrutinizing it. "Do I at least receive a warning as to when my own period will end?"

"A month before and the week before the end short of personally asking someone in administration for an update," Warren amiably answered.

Ichigo paused as he solemnly stared at the lines of the required information... "How soon does this take effect if I sign this?"

"Well it can vary depending on the situation. For a planet with a low technological level, overall unaware of the universe around it, channels may have to be created where none existed before. Reasonably speaking however it could take as little or as long as a week if nothing else."

The college student's eye flicked over to the Schooling clause... "Do I get informed if I have to enroll or re-enroll with the same college?"

At this Warren frowned out of the corner of Ichigo's eye as he looked to the tablet once more. He tapped away at it. After what felt like minutes the man looked up. "I'm afraid you may have to ask someone in administration about that. I unfortunately do not know anything about that. At worse they may have to guide you to someone else if nothing else."

"All or nothing then," Ichigo thought to himself as a dour scowl adorned his face. He even began to tap his finger on the table as the captain politely awaited his ultimate response...

Without a word he written down the information and signed off on it. While it would be annoying to hear the semi-justified screaming at him by his few friends here and his family in Karakura, primarily his family, and perhaps Old Man Hojo, if he didn't somehow convince himself Ichigo went on a long vacation without warning or some other nonsense, but after awhile he was tried of his quiet life despite Washu's antics. If worse came to worse in that he lost his tuition and his job, there were other companies and businesses who were headhunting him for Washu related deliveries amongst other things. From there he could build up the money to go back to college and finish his degree. Besides, if ending his life as a Soul Reaper didn't kill him then certainly being thought of as an idiot wouldn't kill him either.

"Excellent!" Warren said the moment he was handed the clipboard. Soon enough he deposited it in his pocket and stood up. "While it is late, if you have anyone you wish to contact or notify, I would suggest you call now. You can do it from our ship as well if you would like. For now though I'll await for you in the parking lot outside. Feel free to take some time to gather anything you feel you would need for your stay at the GP Academy." He snapped out a brief, crisp salute with a pleasant smile and shown himself out of the apartment.

The moment he left Ichigo looked to the phone, then to a nearby clock and frowned. It was nearly midnight as it stood, the only person who would likely be up would be in landlord and he was most likely heading to bed at this very moment. And as much fun as it would be to call his father and at least hint at his half baked plan, seeing as it was based more on a whim than anything else, just to at least hear the stories of a crazed, goat faced man crashing into his apartment to 'talk some sense into him,' which he didn't miss in the slightest, that would be as chaotic as it would be pointless; yes he might very well agree to watch his stuff and keep his apartment from being swept out from underneath him should he come back, but until he was sure of which route to take he would rather not contend with his father just yet. Then there was Kiriko... who probably didn't want him knowing about this in the first place, presumably out of principle. It certainly wasn't like the GP or likewise a space agency rented a billboard or anything along the roadway to the city...

But she did have a key to his apartment, just in case he ever lost his own and didn't want to face the landlord for whatever reason. And, assuming he was indeed correct in his thinking of her at least being associated with life outside of Earth, for whatever reason, and she indeed left to return Amane, that key was essentially unguarded. Hidden, but unguarded. If he played his cards right he could convince Kai into looking after his apartment while he was gone and, later, call the landlord into at least considering some kind of deal.

On an idea he got up from the table, onto his knees, and clambered to the desk. Pulling out a drawer he retrieved his wallet which he soon checked for the money he had on hand. To his audible relief he had enough on hand to keep his apartment safe, rent-wise, for the next couple of months. Beyond that though he may have to consider working something out with Kiriko's younger brother. Sighing, he took the money out of his wallet, picked up one of his books and stashed the money underneath it as a precaution. Satisfied, he stood up proper and began to stretch before going to his closet.

XVX

Parking lot

Captain Warren pleasantly smiled at Ichigo as he descend the last set of stairs and made his way toward him. "Have you settled everything you needed to do?"

Ichigo almost reluctantly nodded. "I just have a question though."

"Yes?"

"Is it possible to wait a couple of days to ensure matters are settled?"

At this the man frowned. "I'm afraid not," he answered in an apologetic tone. "While great advances have been made to lightspeed technology for speed and reliability, I have to keep in mind that it isn't fool proof. With that in mind I must consider my schedule carefully. For example say we left right now for the Academy and the engines involved failed us at least mid-flight, it could take as many as five days Earth days, one-hundred-thirty of your hours on continuous flight to reach our destination. That would uncomfortably close to the very beginning of the first semester of the Academy with little time for adjustment for both yourself and the other students I am transporting there as well."

"I see," Ichigo frowned back. "I understand. Thank you." He adjusted the strap of the shoulder bag he was now carrying with him. "But I can call from your ship, right?"

"Yes, of course," Warren answered amiably, a smile once again adorning his face. "You could even do so at GP headquarters, our destination, just so you know."

Ichigo nodded. "Thank you."

"Now, are you ready?"

Again Ichigo nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Now it will only take a moment." Looking down and raising his wrist, Warren spoke up as a tablet appeared. "Beam us up Scotty!"

A sweat drop threatened to appear as he gave the man a deadpan stare. "A Star Trek reference, really?"

Warren only looked confused as a ring of light enveloped them.

XVX

Engineering Bay, Ship

"Thank you Scotty!"

A frog-like humanoid waved at them in return before walking away to a nearby console... While it certainly helped explain the captain's evident confusion, it didn't help matters that "Scotty" was wearing a red shirt.

"If you would follow me Cadet Kurosaki." Snapping his head toward the captain, Ichigo followed him out the room and out into a creamy yellow hallway with a gentle sky blue floor and ceiling segmented by the series of intervals of where each section was installed. "I know it may not look glamorous from here inside the hallways but allow me to welcome you to the Mosha. This ship is full of surprises however. It serves many functions with its many contraptions. The interior technicians got a bit overzealous in its design and stuffed us with everything in the universe. If its got a name you'll find it here. My own favorite is the two-dimensional washing machine; fully automatic, completely useless. It washes, rinses, tears, stains, clumps up and batters clothing just like a regular washing machine."

"Wait..." The man stopped and with a curious hum looked back at the incredulous, newfound cadet. "Two-dimensional washing machine?"

The man once more looked confused before it dawned on him on what he was asking. With a smile he reach to a nearby wall, depressed what seemed to be a seamless button in the wall and nearby a window into a small compartment came into view. "If you don't mind me asking, can you lend me an article of clothing?"

"Uh, sure." Confused but nevertheless curious he reached into his bag and pulled out a sock at random. Immediately he handed it to Warren who in turn pressed the sock into the window. To Ichigo's amazement it phased through the glass. Almost immediately water began to fill the compartment and began to toss the hapless article of clothing about in a current.

"Wow..."

The captain heartily laughed. "As I said. The interior technicians got overzealous in building the interior of the ship." He then slowly waved his arm toward the end of the hallway. "Now, would you like to see the bridge or would you prefer to be shown where you will be staying for the rest of the trip since our cryochambers are at capacity?"

"Cryochambers?"

The captain politely and understandingly smiled. "I do believe I at least mentioned that you're not the only cadet that I'm responsible for ferrying to GP headquarters. However since we only have so much space we keep them under in a light, hibernation-like state till the end of our trip when we dock at long last. Normally I or someone else would escort you to the cryochambers, but as I said we are at max capacity and thus you will be given a room for the duration of your stay."

"Ah." Ichigo took a moment to adjust the strap on his shoulder to buy himself a moment's worth of thought. "I would like to see my room then please."

"Very well then. If you would follow me."

XVX

Quarters

"... If you need anything and cannot get a hold of anyone, the bridge is down the hallway to your left."

"Alright. Thank you."

Snapping off a salute, Warren left the room, the door automatically closing behind him.

Sighing to himself Ichigo looked at the room he was now quartered in. To his earlier surprise and mild relief a previous, now reassigned crewmate was something of a Japanophile. That or his culture was similar to that of Japan in that the floors were styled like green tatami mats in appearance, the one and only table was set low to the floor by way of a depression, the closet doors were a pair of sliding rice-paper-like doors, and the open shelves looked sort of like a shrine. In fact what few decorations that were left behind were reminiscent to what he would find in an antique store in the city back in Japan. There was even a futon that he found and rolled out for himself. Regardless, the lights were now off and he was getting settled in bed. The only source of light was a dim one but further evidence that he hadn't joined a group of nutcases: there was only one window to his room. Outside it was an image of the stars, the moon and Earth itself as the sun kissed the western hemisphere with its fading light... Surreal barely described how he felt when he saw it.

But still it was near midnight as far as his time zone was concerned, that which his body was naturally set to. He could probably stay awake for a few more hours, but decided against it. It certainly wouldn't do if he suddenly started to nod off when he had to be reviewing some sort of document or else had to speak to someone in the near future without due cause—he certainly wasn't hunting hollows any more or even pulling an all night study session.

Snuggling into the futon, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep.

XVX

 _BOOM!_

Had he not been on a futon and thus on the floor to begin with he would've likely been tossed out of bed or else made to stumble if he was standing. As it was though he simply and groggily was rolled out of bed, mildly tangled in the comforter he had wrapped himself in.

"What the..."

For a brief moment he pondered on whether or not the explosion was real and, if not, if he simply imagined things as he rolled out of the futon for whatever reason... If it was, wouldn't an alarm or a klaxon of some kind be blaring?

Groaning, he looked to the watch he strapped onto himself before he had left his apartment: it was seven-thirty-seven. People should be waking up back on Earth right about now. If he was lucky he could get Kai on the phone if he was dragging his feet...

Wait, where was the phone, communicator, whatsit now?

Groaning, he got up. It seemed either way and at any rate he would need to visit the bridge. Thus he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he meandered to the door and turned down the hall in the alleged direction of the bridge.

XVX

Bridge

"Oh! Cadet Kurosaki! Shouldn't you be resting?" Warren addressed him the minute the man turned to see who came through the door. With him on the bridge and manning the foremost consoles closest to the primary viewing port were three men, perhaps late teenagers, by their standards, in brown khakis, tan vests and white-blue business shirts. To the side and sitting down in a chair was a tanned woman with golden hair smiling pleasantly at him as she waved in greeting. Her own uniform, unlike the others, was more liken to a dress matching the seemingly set pattern for GP personnel, 'office workers' included, with the only chief difference that the cream white that dominated most of her dress from the skirt to the underside of her arms was more reminiscent to an apron than anything else.

"I guess," Ichigo answered him before nodding to the woman. She only giggled in contentment at the acknowledgement as he focused on the ship captain. "But did something happen earlier?"

"Yes," Warren answered simply as he turned his attention to a screen appearing above his own console which he sat at. "It was a surprise attack by what we assume to be pirates. Thankfully they underestimated us and our quick wit."

Ichigo could only blink at him. "No offense but there are pirates in space?"

With a fire in his eyes and an upheld clenched fist he brought his attention to Ichigo. "That's the reason the Galaxy Police exists! To fight pirate scum and keep the general peace of the galaxy!"

"But since we're a transport ship we have to run away!" the woman cheerfully added. In that exact same instant the captain deflated and hung his head with a heavy sigh. "I'm Mitoto Kuramitsu by the way," the woman said as she bowed from her seat.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo answered with another nod of his head which she didn't mind.

"At any rate we're checking to see if there was any potent damage left behind from that skirmish," the captain sighed as he straightened himself and resumed where he had left off. "As it stands we are only two light-years off course, nothing critical at the moment."

"I see," Ichigo replied as he frowned slightly. "Sorry to interrupt you though but is there anything on the ship I could use to contact Earth?"

"I'll show you!" Mitoto eagerly volunteered as she pushed herself off the seat and went to him.

"Thank you Mitoto." He turned to Ichigo and nodded to him. "As you were."

"Thank you."

"Please follow me!" Mitoto cheerfully insisted as she walked past him and exited through the door he came from. Soon enough Ichigo followed her.

XVX

Quarters

As interesting as it was that she guided him back to his own room, what made it more interesting was what she drew out of the closet along with a small stand to place it on. It was an old telephone almost exactly identical to the one he was using in his apartment some hours ago. The chief difference however was the little GP logo serving as the decorative center to the rotator dial.

"... I don't mean to disrespect you or anything but can this really connect with Earth?" he asked as he turned to look at Mitoto who was leaning over him. At this she nodded. "You can even see who's on the other end," she supplied. "Unfortunately though they don't have image receptors on Earth so they won't be able to see you."

"Huh..." He looked to the phone and made to start dialing. "Be sure to dial four-nine-eight-nine before each call. It saves on all planetary long distance charges galaxy wide."

Ichigo couldn't help but stare in a deadpan fashion at the phone upon hearing that. In the meantime Mitoto stood up properly and made for the door. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be on the bridge."

"Thank you," Ichigo called out as he briefly snapped his head to her.

"You're welcome!"

Once she was gone and the door had slide shut he began to dial away, utilizing the aforementioned numbers just to humor her despite it sounding like something of a promotion when she said it.

 _Ring-ring! Ring-ring!_

"Hello, Masaki Residence." At that very moment the very image of the living room to the only _other_ Masaki residence came into view. Or rather the only living room he knew of considering he never stepped foot within the one on the hill. Regardless, laying about on the living room floor in a yellow tank top and pink sweat pants was Kiriko's younger brother of fifteen. Ichigo couldn't help but blink at the sight in confusion before speaking up.

"Hey Kai, it's Ichigo."

"Oh! Hey! How's it going?"

"Fine..." Ichigo couldn't help but scowl as he considered what he wanted to say. "Hey Kai? I need a favor."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Do you happen to know where Kiriko keeps my spare apartment key?"

"Kind of. Why, did you lose yours?" Kai, unaware that Ichigo was watching him, began to scratch his rear at a leisurely pace.

"No actually..." Ichigo quietly drew a breath and closed his eyes to better focus. "Look, some things came up and... I'm basically won't likely be back at my apartment for a month or two if not longer. In fact I might not be back for a year or even longer. I left some money under one of my books back at my apartment which should be enough to cover the first couple of months' worth of rent. Can you go get it and hand it to the landlord and let him know I won't be around for awhile?"

"Uh... sure..." when Ichigo finally opened his eyes he was treated to the view of Kai frowning in concern. "Hey, Ichigo, what's going on?"

"It's an overseas job opportunity," Ichigo lied. Or half lied at least. He was in the 'sea of stars,' on his way to a police academy at least... semantics

"Oh! That's cool! Are they paying big bucks or something?"

"Yeah. Something like that. They definitely have a few impressive perks," he admitted as he recounted the things he had seen and noted from the image of space to his left, now sporting a few of two green gas giants, to the two-dimensional washing machine... Now that he thought about it, when was he going to get his sock back? "But like I said, I'm going to be away for a few months at the least. I'm also going to call the manager to see if we can work out some sort of agreement where he won't at least toss all my stuff out on the street."

"Alright!"

"Thank you," Ichigo sighed. As he pondered whether or not to confront Kai about his evident truancy, the door to the living room slide open to reveal a haggard Kiriko. "Oh, hey Kiriko—" Kai managed to say before freezing in place as he realized the position he was in. In the meantime Kiriko blinked repeatedly as if she were freeing herself from a daze before looking at him and, as if to confirm something, looked to something, presumably a clock, that was out of the screen's view. "Aren't you suppose to be in school by now?"

Kai laughed nervously as he offered her a forced, frightened grin. While doing so he pointed at the receiver in his hand. "I was answering the phone?"

She sternly glared at him for a full second before sighing as she hung her head. "Just please don't make a habit out of this," she groaned as she tiredly walk to the table, sat down and spread herself out onto the table in defeat.

"Uh, are you alright?" Kai asked just before hanging up the phone, ending the line to the Masaki household.

Sighing quietly to himself, Ichigo began to turn the turn the rotary for another familiar set of numbers.

 _Ring-!_

"Traditional Delight! Legacy of the Hojin! Hanzo speaking!"

Like before the image of the recipient came into view. As opposed to a living room however it was a restaurant's dining room. And as opposed to a teenager playing hooky it was an older man inexplicably dressed in a chicken suit for no apparent reason... unless Ichigo forgot something. Then again he did suspect the man was going senile in the first place. At any rate everyone was content with giving him a fair amount of room.

"Hey, it's Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Oh! Ichigo! Why aren't you at work yet?"

"It's my day off..." Ichigo deadpanned. He made sure to double check his schedule before leaving in the first place; he wasn't supposed to be in till ten o'clock the day after.

"Oh! We don't deliver this early then!"

"Huh?" He checked his watch, it read eight-ten. The restaurant wasn't supposed to be open, let alone staffed till another hour for preparation purposes... which begs both the question why was Hanzo there so early in the morning; there was an answering machine to take calls. "Why are you there to—you know what, never mind."

"Ok then! I'll see you at ten then!" _Click!_

Gob smacked, Ichigo stupidly stared at the screen before it disappeared before redialing the number again. Again the image of Hanzo in a chicken suit reappeared.

"Traditional Delight! Legacy of the Hojin! Hanzo speaking!"

Ichigo slowly blinked at him... "Hey, it's Ichigo."

"Oh! Ichigo! Why aren't you at work yet?"

He bit back a groan as he stared at the odd man. "It's my day off," he repeated himself.

"Oh! We don't—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you but I'm just calling to let you know that I had been given an overseas job offer. I know it's rude to do this without advance warning but I just wanted to tell you that I'm quitting."

"NOOOOO!" The man cried as he collapsed onto his knees, weeping like the emotional wreck he appeared to be. "How could the Hojin family fallen so far that our dear employees seek the company of others elsewhere!" he cried aloud as he held both arms up as if begging for some miracle explanation from above.

"I'm going to hang up now..." Ichigo drawled in exasperation.

"WAIT! ICHIGO! AT LEAST TELL THEM ABOUT OUR DEALS AND SPECIALS!"

"... sure. Will do," Ichigo all but mumbled as he unrepentantly inched his free hand to the switches that rested in the phone's handset cradle.

"Okay! Have fun with your new job!" _Click!_

... Moving on then.

Already he was dialing in—

 _BOOM!_

Already the line began to beep as if it were busy. From overhead a soft but loud klaxon blared to life. In the meantime an automated speaker began to rumble "Warning, Level One Emergency Alert! This phone line has been disconnected. No further communications are to be allowed until Level One Emergency Alert has been rescinded! Thank you for your patience!"

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a bright flash of something. Turning to it he saw bright red laser whizzing past his window as the others began to rock the ship. "Damn it!"

XVX

Bridge

The intensity of the bridge had easily doubled since he had been there last. Captain Warren looked more sullen and stern than he had before, the pilots were scrambling between trying to divert more power to the shields and the engines... and Mitoto didn't seem fazed at all for reasons unknown.

"Picking up intense energy readings ahead!" one of the pilots shouted. Looking out, Ichigo witness the birth and subsequent growth of a black and red wall of energy straight ahead of them, dominating the entirety of the window. "They deployed an energy net!"

"Sensor readings are off the scale!"

"Quick! Steer around it!"

"Yes Sir!"

The ship actually jolted for the first time, aside from the explosions that beset it, since Ichigo stepped aboard as it careened to the side, causing the college student to stumble into the nearest empty c hair. As he latched onto it he watched the screen as the edge of the 'net' appeared in stark contrast to the space around it, yet it drew closer all the same. Soon enough they speed past the net without so much as a glancing blow along its edge. "Break away successful!"

"WHAT?!"

"More energy nets deployed ahead! Decreasing speed!"

"Sensors indicate a massive power wave emanating from the enemy ship! They're right on our tail!"

"Defense grid is offline!"

 _BROOMF!_

Despite holding onto it, Ichigo was nearly thrown from the chair at the rough crash that plagued the ship.

"Defense net compromised! Level four-hull breach!"

"Intruders on board!"

"Activate traps now!" Warren ordered. In the meantime Ichigo pulled himself onto his feet with a severe scowl.

"Invader rats in block five! Must be a new model! They're fast!"

"Invader rats?" Ichigo asked as he turned and eyed the door. Unfortunately it seemed that no one payed attention to him or his question.

"Block two captured! Block three penetrated! Sir! they're heading straight for the deck!"

"No problem. Remember, this is a new model," Warren assured them despite the sweat forming on his brow.

"Does this ship have the orbit forecast program, version six?" Mitoto suddenly asked, a neutral frown on her lips for once despite the short time he knew her.

"That's three versions old," Warren stated without looking at her.

"Seven through nine were highly overrated," Mitoto countered pleasantly. "Six will do just fine." Once more her gentle smile appeared on her face.

 _KA-BOOM!_

A new wave of explosions rocked the ship. Had he not been prepared for it he would've been knocked off his feet again.

"Ouch. They taken over our oh-three and oh-five conduction circuits. These mech rats are fast!"

"Well that answers that," he mumbled. Mechs. Evidently specialized for taking over and disabling ships for the main force.

"Engine power decreasing! One-twenty, one-hundred and dropping!"

"The pirate ship is almost on us. We're trapped!"

"what you propose is extremely dangerous," Warren stated as he turned to the serene Mitoto, the sweat on his head more prominent now than before.

"At this point, what isn't?" she countered with a smile by the time Ichigo turned his full attention to the two. At the very moment Captain Warren let loose a tired sigh before steeling himself.

"Prepare a random jump!" he announced. At this the entirety of the crew, sans Mitoto and Ichigo, turned to him in evident confusion as if he had said something that in all probability was indeed crazy... by their standards... He was not looking forward as to what constituted as 'crazy' by anyone's standards.

"Make circuit three an energy bypass. Simply pump in enough crystal gel to fill it," Mitoto elaborated with her genteel smile in place as she held up three fingers for a brief moment.

"Huh? Oh! Right away!"

As one they furiously began to work on their respective consoles. Soon enough they had reports at the ready. "Engine power is rising! Ready!"

"Enemy still gaining. They're firing on us!"

 _BAAM!_

"Wait for my signal!" Warren ordered as he looked to his console. A second later he looked up. "Initiate random jump, now!" he ordered once more, waving a pointed finger out as a flourish.

Turning around, Ichigo was just in time to see the stars streaking out before the helm before a bright light encompassed the entirety of his vision. When everything returned to normal and he blinking out the dots in his eyes, the image of empty, star riddled space once more stretched out across the primary window. "Random jump complete!"

"Confirm position of the enemy!" Warren stated as he leaned back into his chair. It wasn't even a moment later when one of the pilots spoke up.

"Wait a minute! Aft sensors have detected another energy wave!"

"Where?"

"It's heading right in our direction!"

"Random jump!"

Again the bridge was engulfed in blinding white light for a sparse moment.

"Success?"

"Another energy wave detected."

"Please tell me it's not them again," Ichigo groaned as he reluctantly took to the unoccupied chair.

Regardless, Warren banged his fist against his own console. "Not again!" he groaned. "It's useless. I'm trained for delivering cargo, not plotting military strategy!" He further slumped onto the console in defeat. "We may as well just let them capture us."

"Perhaps military tactics should be a part of the core curriculum in cargo delivery training," Mitoto hummed in deep thought as she looked up.

"You're not really going to give up, are you?" Ichigo all but growled as he leveled a glare in their direction.

As if struck by an idea Mitoto turned in the general direction of both the college student and the GP ship captain. "Why don't we let Ichigo choose our next course?"

Ichigo's jaw dropped as he stared at her.

"Oh! He is just an amateur!"

"I don't know a thing about charting courses!" Ichigo snapped at them.

"It's easy. Just type in a random jump coordinate!" On a hunch he looked down and found a phantom keyboard hovering just above his lap.

"And how is letting me do this better than you doing it?" Ichigo griped as his hands hesitantly neared the keyboard. He fingered one of the keys and found it just as hard and easy to press as a normal keyboard.

"Despite its name, random jump coordinates can be a bit predictable," Mitoto explained with a small chuckle.

"So it's between running about wildly or being methodically hunted down with only a minor hope of escaping," he surmised with an exasperated sigh. He groaned when she nodded her head ever so eagerly with her trademark smile. "Great."

"We're depending on you!"

"Come on! Hurry up!" the three pilots shouted in perfect synchronization.

Sighing as a new wave of lasers rocked the ship, Ichigo cracked his neck as he looked down at the keyboard. "Just don't blame me if we slam into a planet."

"That's what the Collision Rejection system is for!"

Ignoring the pilot, he punched in the first set of numbers he could think of. An instant later the ship was blinded by a white light for just a few moments. "First jump nearing completion."

... Sadly when they slipped out of hyperspace and the light had dimmed it revealed that they were about to crash into the broadside of what appeared to be a pirate dreadnaught, as made obvious by the skull and crossbones on the side.

"AH! ENTER NEW COORDINATES!"

They swerved away just in time and flew above them as Ichigo jammed in a new set of numbers. Thankfully it seemed they taken the pirate crew by surprise with their arrival, stalling them long enough to slip into hyperspace once more.

"Second jump complete!"

The slipped out into normal space once more only to face a small fleet of five pirate ships right in front of them.

"DO IT AGAIN!"

"Third jump!"

Like before they escaped before a shot was fired.

Like before they exited hyperspace only to find another fleet of nine to their side.

"Fourth!"

... An entire armada was in front of them.

"HURRY UP, MOVE!"

The latest set had been punched in at random yet instead of jumping, the engines buckled under the pressure and began to fail as announced by a new and quick set of explosions.

"Engine power dropping quickly! Random jump is impossible!" a pilot gawked, his face ashen white.

"Another gravity wave! It's the same ship!"

"How relentless can they be?" Ichigo groaned. To make matters worse the ships they had bypassed before began to arrive with a multitude of others unaffiliated with their initial fleets, surrounding them and sending the crews into a panic.

"Oh my, this is bad," Mitoto calmly noted. Ichigo, meanwhile, sunk into his chair and covered his face as Warren collapsed onto his console, fist futility and half heartedly banging atop of it.

"Enemy ship closing in!"

An image appeared before them, garnering varying degrees of attention as they watched the warship behind them extend two pylons, exposing hosing underneath the armor as the very ends opened up to reveal themselves to be clamps. It was the first to latch onto them from behind. Similarly from the sides other ships latched themselves onto the sides with grapples of their own, or else harpoon themselves with what he initially thought was decorative pieces...

"... they've captured us," one of the pilots moaned as he, like his captain, slumped onto his console.

"We're outnumbered... we'll never escape," another groaned as he deflated in his chair.

The captain then slammed his hand on his own console and looked up with steel in his eye, as if catching his second wind. "Send a distress call, all channels!"

All three snapped out of their lethargy and set to work only for the still active image to start flashing: the pirate ship from behind, the biggest of the three present, shot out at the other two, causing them to release and retreat. One however shot back, blasting at the clamps that still held onto it and jolting them into releasing the GP vessel as made evident with a jolt felt within the ship.

"Firing at their own? Are they that greedy?" Ichigo growled.

"I don't care! Get us out of here!"

"Yes sir!"

The image finally disappeared as the ship sped away from the three. Already the ship was set to punch through the nearest gap they could find in the armada as the ships closed in, many of which extending their own grappling arms if they had them.

"Is the hyperdrive repaired yet?" Warren barked as he dabbed away the sweat from his brow.

"No sir! They're trying to fix it as we speak but we're stuck trying to outrace them!"

Out of curiosity Ichigo began to fiddle with his own keyboard in an experimental manner. By punching random buttons he pulled up differing images and charts, none of which he had a clue of what they were for. Eventually he had found what he at least thought he was looking for— it was a screen with a black field showcasing a green triangle with a set of descending numbers next to it. All around it save for a narrow cone that was a gap were red triangles showcasing likewise dropping numbers as the green one outran them at a great velocity. Abruptly however a hollow triangle encasing an exclamation mark appeared in the middle of the screen, flashing several times in quick succession before shrinking down to a singular mark on the field. It was an empty spot already yet a newfound white, hollow circle materialized within it. The nearest enemy ships suddenly began to divert from the area as if to escape, others seemingly began to simply drift as their numbers began to rise, stop altogether or slowly descend in comparison to before.

At the telltale sound of an image popping up, he looked away and looked on in wide eyed shock at a new, large screen on the bridge. Within it was the pirate armada but in their midst, almost exactly in the middle of the entire fleet, appeared to be a ring of green energy gushing out of nowhere. In fact it looked a bit similar to when a soul reaper or arrancar who was building up energy right before an attack. From within the ring however rose up a ship, a ring-like ship far greater than even the largest of the dreadnaughts present in the armada. On the main body was a 'head' of some sort, almost avian in appearance made of smoothed wood polished to a sheen, within its mouth was a relatively small amethyst gem yet probably as large if not larger than the GP ship they were on right now. Underneath the head appeared to be plumage of some sort, also made of wood but yet detached from the main body yet kept in place by some unseen force. Last but not least as Ichigo finally noticed it was another ring held within the primary ring. Like the frills it was kept in place by an unseen force, and held at an angle no less to signify its presence.

"Hey look, it's the Mikigami!" Mitoto announced.

"Mikigami?" Warren stood up to better observe the screen with reserved awe.

"Please tell me we're not running from that too," Ichigo griped. At this Mitoto giggled, drawing his attention as she shook his head at him.

"Sir, incoming message from the Mikigami."

"Hear ye all ships," an older woman of dignified, regal authority announced. "By order of Lady Seto of Jurai, you are hereby arrested for the crime of piracy."

"So I take it she's on our side then," Ichigo half mumbled as he settled into his chair as long last with a sigh.

"Yes, the Devil Princess," the captain half mumbled as well.

"Huh?" Ichigo snapped his head to him. Likewise the captain turned to him and laughed all too nervously for his taste. "I mean Grand Consensus". You misunderstood... I suffer from a slight lisp. Hereditary."

Ichigo only stared at him...

"She's that scary, isn't she?"

He smiled a styrained, nervous smile at him. "Well she is a very powerful person. Seto is the head of the Jurai royal family and is also the head of the military. Anybody withy that much power I guess could be considered scary."

"She's a smart dresser too," Mitoto randomly added from the side.

"Miss Kuramitsu, this is no time for trivial commentary!"

Ichigo only continued to stare. "She can't see through walls can she?"

"Huh?" Snapping his head back to him and blinked at him for a couple of seconds. Then the man laughed in return... laughing a forced, nervous laugh that was all too easy to read. "No! No, no..." He turned away and mumbled non-too-quietly "I don't think so at least."

Shifting uncomfortably for a moment, Ichigo looked to the screen at the now underside shot of the Mikigami and the fleet that surrounded it. Coming into view now were other ships of a similar make to the gargantuan ship, surrounding the pirate fleet without resistance. "Scary indeed," he mumbled.

 **A/N: ...** **not really much to note here.** **Just bored commentary here.** **Feel free to skip ahead when the next chapter comes up!** **Or ignore this and hurt my feelings** **(Sniffles!).** **The only thing really worth mentioning that is related to this story is that I'm going to use Latin translations for the titles where I can (Blame Dead Poets Society.** **Carpe diem for the win!).** **That and while I am going to stay close to the story, as you can see I will be adding my own flavor to this and try to deviate where I reasonably can...**

 **Onto the rant (Feel free to avoid. I may very well bore you/irritate you (I'm bored)!**

 **The timeline within GXP always confused me when it came to episode two, moreso when I think about it. Overall I think we can all reasonably assume that months have passed in their version of a timeline from beginning to end but episode two, again, confuses me when I look at it from the end of episode one to the phone scene.** **Namely Seina's family in the video make it known that they went on vacation (or rather going on vacation) in the farewell video they leave for him;** **when he gets to the phone (wondering to himself if they came back), they're back.** **I'm not going to even try to puzzle out the average time spent on vacations to, say, a neighboring town at least but I think it can be reasonably assumed that we're looking at three days to a week for a 'proper' vacation.** **And if you watched the anime (which, unless I'm wrong, came out before any novelization as I understand it), he wakes up on his own bed when he's on the ship...** **Even absolutely low balling it, he had to been asleep for at least twenty-four hours for them to have come back from vacation.** **Either way he was in space for some significant amount of time before he woke up.** **And while you can make the argument that he may have been in a cryo-sleep before then and they brought his bed as some semi-convoluted attempt to ease him into a startling truth, why not do it when they get to their destination to begin with?**

 **Hence Ichigo getting his own room on the ship, because the chambers are at max capacity. Not only that but its only been a few hours at most.**

 **... I also have similar issues with the space travel portions but again for all I know it was days from here to there in-universe or at least a couple of hours if they were being reasonable about it (like only making small jumps to avoid crashing into things or to avoid engine duress as hinted in both the anime and this story toward the end.)**

 **Anyway...**

 **Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Right. I don't own anything.** **Has that not been established yet?** **I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning!** **This story is for entertainment purposes only!**

Spirit Police

Chapter Three: Diaboli et secum piratis

Mikigami

He did not know or even wanted to contemplate as to how someone would earn the moniker of the Devil Princess and still be on the right side of the law, without assuming of course there was corrupt government involved or the like... hopefully. All he knew is that somehow, some way she was a force of nature onto herself and by essentially hiding in the GP ship, waiting for the long distance communication lines to come back up then he was far less likely to meet her rather than to follow Mitoto's example of crossing over to the Mikigami. Warren sure as hell wasn't too keen on meeting her as made evident by dragging his feet through damage reports and personally writing incident reports. Even the rest of the crew, the robots included!, were... reluctant... to step onto the Juraian ship.

Then they came for him. On the Princess' orders. No bones about it. They were quick to cut off any escape routes long before he could contemplate them. All that was missing was his nail marks on the floor as they escorted him away with nothing more than a wince of sympathy from the GP captain as a condolence. As such he now found himself within a home which was within a forest within the sub-space "in between" the Mikigami. Not only that but to add to his irritation their own phone was armed with a rather passive-aggressive AI that only mocked him in his attempts to call both his landlord and his family lest they go nuts worrying about him. Oh how it crowed with each failed attempt do to a busy line or such...

... at least the tea was good though.

"Mister Kurosaki?"

His attention shifted to one of the many attendants within the ship. A lady-in-waiting specifically, one of many whose garb was relatively simple in their pattern of a blue dress over a white one, further garbed by a hood-like veil that reached all the way to her waist from the back of her head. "Lady Seto is ready to receive you now."

With a quieted sigh he placed his empty tea cup onto the first coaster he glanced upon. Without a word he stood up and followed her out of the building, down a gently swerving dirt path to one of many teleporters found within the ship. Without ado from either of them they stepped onto the wooden platform it was on, stood on top of the glass-like circle ringed with a ring of bronze and was enveloped by a blinding green light. Before he realized it they were at their destination at what appeared to be the bridge of the ship, made of wood as opposed to polymer, perhaps metal materials that made up the GP's own bridge. In fact instead of being enclosed it was open, spacious, each work station a fair distance from the other, the entirety of which domed by an invisible glass to both show them and protect them from space itself. And there before him with two others, all of whom standing before a lounge chair of a throne-like chair, were three people who stood apart from the maidens that were under Seto's employ. Two of whom were ladies while the third was a man... and standing between the two was no doubt the Devil Princess herself, Seto, made all the more obvious with a confident smirk and her air of regal authority which, thankfully, didn't seem interested in the domination of others... for the moment at least.

As she observed him with her piercing red eyes he couldn't help but take note of her as well. Her hair was blond with a green tint to it, pulled into a high pony tail behind her. She had on a white dress with a main body encompassed by a pink kimono-like top garbed adorned a trio of golden buttons and further garnished with a green-gray sash, with its puffy white sleeves trimmed with thick purple bands held in place to the kimono by two of the golden buttons. On each ear was an earing, one of which a bar of gold with a slanted portion of silver keeping it from being a solid bar. On the other ear was a purple gem.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, thank you for agreeing to meet me," she finally spoke up, revealing herself to be the very voice that spoke earlier during the pirate assault. "My name is Seto Jurai. Commander of this armada and Princess of the royal nation of Jurai."

With a semi-conscious irritated scowl he raised a hand in a wave. "Hey." While he knew that it wasn't exactly a 'proper' greeting in the slightest, especially to a stranger in a non-casual setting much less a _princess_ , she didn't seem insulted in the slightest. On the other hand however the apparent male aid furrowed his brow whilst his female counterpart frowned in return. Before either of them could comment however the older woman let loose a humored scoff.

"Well, that was rather gruff, wouldn't you say?"

He squinted at her. "Yeah, well, most people wouldn't 'request' the presence of a complete stranger for no given reason," he dryly countered.

Again the older woman chuckled from behind closed lips. "Indeed that is true." He squinted even further, it only seemed to humor her more in turn however as her smile bore a rather uncomfortable resemblance to a certain Hat wearing nutcase's puckish smile... "Am I to assume then that you're worried for your personal safety?"

"You could say that," he answered in an honest drawl.

She hummed to herself and brought her hands together in a clap, her smile never changing in the slightest. "Then perhaps a change of scenery may help then. Would you care for some tea?"

He gave her a confused blink which was shared by the unnamed man who glanced over his shoulder. Even the woman to Seto's right joined in, neither of whom were given recognition for the act however.

"Uh... sure?"

"Very good. Please, follow me."

XVX

Once more he found himself 'outside' where a blue sky hung over his head despite it being the inside of a ship. Or in between rather, not that he understood that part nor made an effort to. Instead of a house however he had been lead to a veranda overlooking the forest below, home to a floating picnic table without legs which seemingly awaited them. Above the slab of polished but purposely rough, in a cultured way, if possible, looking wood was a floating overhang to provide a measure of shade for the both of them. As it was right now though the both of them were sitting at this table, sipping from cups of tea at their own respective leisure. Yet while the older woman was contentedly sipping from her own cup with closed eyes, he stared at her with a lax glare with an equal frown on his lips as he awaited for what was to come, whatever it was, to indeed come. Throughout it all the princess continued as is with a smile, unfazed by his suspicion at all.

"I suppose you would like me to get to the point now, wouldn't you?" she asked once her cup settled on its plate. Not once did her voice inflect anything more than a cultured sense of humor at seeing his annoyed scowl which hadn't changed since meeting him.

"That would be helpful," he drawled. At this she smiled at him.

"First of all I would like to thank you," she said. As I understand it you were the one who had entered the series of jump coordinates which had lured the pirates to one location. Because of that we were able to perform one of the largest mass arrests in history."

At this Ichigo finally looked away with an embarrassed blush on his face.

"Yeah... that was... kind of an accident," he muttered. At this the woman chuckled from behind closed lips. Her smile and chuckle where lost however in favor of a barely neutral frown.

"Be that as it may, allow me to explain its significance to me. You may not know this but pirates have been holding this galaxy hostage for years. While law enforcement have valiantly tried to beat them back, they are both outnumbered and often led to dead ends in spite of their efforts." With a quiet sigh she closed her eyes. "In fact it had grown into such a pandemic that I decided to take matters into my own hands by commissioning an armada to hunt down the filthy butchers. Alas, even we're left wanting as well." She opened her eyes to set a stern but non-confrontational stare on him. "So, accident though it may be, this is a victory I and the GP will gladly take."

He grimaced slightly. "I see... I'm sorry—"

She raised a hand, cutting him off.

"There is nothing to apologize for." Her smile returned. "And like I said, I just wanted to be done with that first." Before she continued she paused long enough to reach down, bring her cup up to her lips and take a quick sip before resuming. "Now, as you may be wondering as to why the great and powerful Seto would request your presence, someone who by rights ought to be unknown by the galaxy at large." she pointed to the side without turning her head as she again took a sip. Out of curiosity he followed the direction she gestured to...

... and gaped.

There, on one of the many technological phantom screens he had been seeing as of late, was an image of himself but a few years younger... _wearing his shinigami outfit!_ And fighting a hollow no less but that wasn't the point! By rights there shouldn't be an image of him when he was in his spirit form! As advanced as everyone from space seemed, he was fairly certain even they had limits toward spiritual matters! Even if they did, they very well might have considering he wasn't even a week into this bizarre new venture and thus ignorant on a raw level, why, why, WHY was he apparently the focus of someone's, ANYONE'S, attention?!

With shocked eyes and a gaping mouth he turned to Seto who was idly sipping on her tea for the moment. As he wordlessly pointed at his own picture, the older woman set her cup down once more and presented an almost obvious mischievous smile as she throatily chuckled once more.

"Gu... uh... how?"

She dipped her head, eyes closed and her smile still in place. "I and many other juraians have done their fair share of exploring when we had the time. While we're not masters per se, I would say we collected a great deal of information in matters most people would be... unaware of. Spiritual matters in particular for example."

She opened her eyes to look at him. "Hollows, Shinigami, Souls... While the Earth is relatively unique, from what I learned it would seem that, while having differences, each planet has a similar system in regards to the afterlife and how it effects the living. And of course where there is a system there are rules. And where there are rules however," her smile was lost once more to an expressionless frown, "there are rule breakers."

Gradually the shock of having his secret life being known by others faded away. As it eroded his more normally stoic and often personality returned with a scowl to showcase his displeasure, yet curious all the same. The princess simply carried on however as a seemingly random set of images of humanoids slowly filtered through the screen, each one a presumed criminal or even an outright monster in the most basic interpretation of the word.

"Even if they are still amongst the living or dead, while some have tried to use their power responsibly, more than a few have tried abusing their gifts for their own ends. Not the mention of course more natural predators almost liken to the Hollows you had faced where law and order are a nonissue for them at large." The screen abruptly glowed white, drawing his full attention to it once more as the GP symbol proudly presented itself on the screen. From underneath the logo an image of an officer's badge materialized. On its shield face was another symbol of the Galaxy Police encased in a hollow ring of lotus blossom petals. From four sides of the ring a band emerged and attached themselves to the edge of the badge, altogether forming an X pattern that didn't penetrate the center. Plunged through the circle but not intruding it properly was what appeared to be a double edged sword. "To combat this when conventional methods have failed, especially when these 'rule breakers' and 'monsters' dwell solely in the spiritual realm, utterly invisible to the common eye and most surveillance systems, the GP had formed a special division composed of those who are capable of using spiritual energies. Even those who can simply see the souls of the deceased qualify for membership."

Stupefied, he stared at it for what seemed like an eternity before turning to her with a raised brow. "And I assume you want me to join it?"

She hummed an affirmative as she nodded whilst she cradled the tea cup in her hands.

"... even if I can't see ghosts anymore?"

Her gaze slowly lifted to meet his own dour sight as he cupped his hands in front of him whilst he stared back.

"I don't know what you know, or heard or seen about me but after the Winter War I lost all of my spiritual abilities. At first I thought it was fine. After all I didn't ask for them. I didn't ask to see souls. To be dragged into a fights with hollows. To fight with a madman hell bent on destroying the Soul Society to get what he wanted." His grip slightly tightened. "But deep down I knew I wasn't. After seeing my friends run off to fight hollows on my behalf so many times and learning my little sister basically took over my old job, I thought it might be better if I moved out so I wouldn't be reminded of it all. I focused on my schoolwork and my job and quietly hoped that this feeling of... embitterment... would go away with time as I tried to form my own life." His stare hardened before he closed his eyes as he sighed. "In the end though I was just running away from it," he admitted.

He sighed as he opened his eyes to again stare at her own unaltered demeanor.

"I may not have the greatest reason toward joining the GP. Hell, it's selfish when I think about it, but I'm hoping that perhaps, just maybe I'll finally put my old life behind me, not run from it any more."

"I see," she intoned as she set her cup down. After a deliberate pause she spoke up again. "At least you're honest about it, which is more than one can say about others. But allow me to ask you a certain question..."

"Would you still join if there was a chance to recover it? Your missing spiritual energy?"

"Huh?"

With his full attention on her she elaborated herself. "Spiritual energy, magic, chi, whatever one calls it, can be quite fickle. It can be eroded over the course of time or perhaps even enhanced in spite of the circumstances. It can even be sealed away or made dormant, yet never has there been a case where it was gone completely, Ichigo Kurosaki." She leveled a hard stare on him once more. "But regardless if it's there or not, it requires a willingness to find out, and a will to pursue it," Her gaze hardened without even hardening if such a thing were possible. "So again I ask, are you willing to try though if given a chance? Are you willing to endure dangers and trails that could leave you more broken than you were before for a mere chance?"

As he stared at her, his lips pursed, his hands began to twitch, squeezing one another in their unintentional grasping as his mind raced... Join the GP as a standard officer as he sought out to do in a trial run, or join an evident special operations unit if it meant he could wield his powers once more..

Even if he were to join, and say he did reclaim what he had given up, would it be worth it? Assuming it was liken to his life to his life as a shinigami, give or take a few differences, would he be happy? Would it truly satisfy him, replacing one life with another?

His hands tightened once more...

Perhaps not... But he would be lying if he said he miss that part of himself, regardless of what trouble it had brought him. The part that could actually help someone from threats from beyond.

"Yes... I would."

His eyes narrowed as a smile formed on the princess' face. It didn't shy away nor change under his scrutiny.

"Good." Without ado she took her cup and sipped from it once more while the cadet continued to stare at her.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" he suddenly asked her. Regardless of its suddenness though the juraian wasn't fazed in the slightest as she brought the cup down from her lips.

"Hm?"

"What's your angle in all of this?" he bluntly stated.

Rather than stare back at him with a quiet challenge as he had expected, the older woman throatily chuckled.

"Would you believe me that I like to cast stones in the water?" she offered with a coy smile.

"Not in the slightest." It only amused her further.

"Then I'm afraid you would have to wait and see then."

With a sigh he hung his head in defeat. "Should've known it wouldn't be that easy," he grumbled to himself. Seto, in response, gave a noncommittal hum.

"One more thing though," he murmured as he recollected himself for another question.

"Yes?"

"How exactly did you know I was a shinigami?" he asked, eyes squinting to skeptical levels. "Or is that a secret too?"

To this she didn't verbally reply, instead she reached down into an apparent pocket in her dress. Soon enough she retrieved an iphone of all things from her pocket, turned it on and presented him with a picture of none other than herself and Kisuke Urahara posing for a selfie, both of whom holding up a hand forming the peace sign.

 _Thunk!_

It was a struggle for Seto not to madly grin at the scene that was the young man planting his head on the table. It was made even worse when he went the extra mile of slowly banging his fist on the table as he pitifully groaned.

XVX

GP Ship, an hour later

S-Vise, that was the name of the subsection of the Justice Division that handled spiritual matters that actively or passively bothered the spiritually unaware to the point that action must be called for. However due to its specialized purpose it was staffed with only the spiritually aware who were able to at least perceive spiritually based problems, and even in the vastness of space such individuals were few and hard to come by at large. As such it was one of smallest divisions there ever was within the entirety of the GP. Even then, as declared in the few notes Seto had gifted to him to prepare him for what may come, it was under scrutiny as possibly front for more... ludicrous... expenditures; save for a few cultures, even space people at large were skeptical at best toward spiritual matters it seemed. Still, Ichigo at least found mild comfort in one thing: given the more strict requirements to be a part of S-Vise and that he was verified in his experience toward both otherworldly matters and had combat experience to boot then if by some chance he didn't regain his powers, or even a fraction of it, he would still be qualified to join the GP in any other field of his choosing after graduating in the Academy. In other words were it not for his special nature and experience then evidently he would've been sent back home already for simply being from a "technologically inferior" planet. For "safety reasons" as they claimed it... as if he would buy that.

Well, it wasn't skin off his back given his case at any rate. With no further distractions and the ship now well on its way to GP Headquarters after its much needed repairs he was finally free to call his landlord—

And then the alarm sounded off, again, with enough ferocity to mute the automated tone declaring the lines had been automatically cut off, again.

"God damn it," he growled as he slammed the receiver back into its cradle.

XVX

Bridge

Thankfully the alarm was deactivate by the time he reached the bridge but it did little to alleviate his mood. It barely even gave way to curiosity upon entering the scene of the pilots frantically working at the controls in the midst of celebratory jubilation while the captain barked at them to cease and desist from his own post. In fact it looked like Warren as seconds away from outright leaping from his own console to batter the pilots whom happily ignored his orders in favor of their own agenda.

"Just what is going on!" he demanded from the door as he stormed in.

"It's Ryoko Balta!" one of the pilots ecstatically cried.

"It's a mutiny!" Warren roared. "They're about to let a pirate ship board us ON PURPOSE!"

From his console the captain whipped out what looked to have been a inflatable baton, rounded the desk and charged the three. "Don't you dare do this under my watch!" he roared as a battle cry with Ichigo following him but a scant second later. At his cry the crewmen finally looked behind themselves and panicked upon seeing both the cadet and the captain barreling down on them.

"Quick! The Ryoko Protocol!"

Out of nowhere the three pulled out gas masks and donned them just as one of the farthest pilots mashed a button on his console. Before either of them knew it a green gas belched out from the air vents. Neither of them barely made it half a meter forward before they came crashing down on the deck, bodies feeling like lead and minds a blur...

XVX

When the both of them snapped their eyes open the both of them found himself jammed inside a cramped cardboard box of all things, their hands taped together and their mouths sealed by said tape. Even their legs had been tied together, not that it would stop either of them. As if sharing the same plan the both of them began to kick at their box to escape if only to be out of the box if nothing else. Alas no matter how much they kicked or how powerful each one was either by themselves or together, the box wouldn't budge nor tear in the slightest. In fact it didn't give way to anything less than a box cutter's knife that meticulously sliced through the taped opening above them that was soon flipped apart to reveal the face of a curious, dark haired young woman. Above each definitive eyebrow was a small green, slightly elongated, triangular dot that hung above each brow nearest her nose. Hovering over her shoulder was a man looking to be in his mid thirties wearing a purple bandana.

"Oh my, what do we have here?" she asked no one but herself in genuine puzzlement. In the background the panicked squawking of the crew could be heard as they unintelligibly panicked over the latest turn of events. Regardless, neither the kneeing woman nor the man behind her paid them any mind as she reached down a gloved hand and carefully peeled the tape from Ichigo's mouth.

"Thank you," he said dryly as he half glared at her in irritation. "So are you... Ryuko Malta, or something?" he droned.

"Ryoko Balta," she corrected with nonchalant smile, "and you are?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he offered with some reluctance. Being bound and basically confronted with a pirate, or at least some crewmember he hadn't met yet, left him with little choice but to answer her.

"Ah! So it was you who rounded up all those pirates back there!" she noted, her smile not changing in the least whereas her eyes widened in fascination. In the meantime Ichigo paled slightly as he considered his vulnerable position and imagined the possibilities that awaited him.

"Uh... I didn't catch them... That was Seto's fleet," he offered in an attempt to shift the focus of the conversation on the now faraway Devil. In the meantime he tried to keep his struggle against his bindings as discreet at possible. From the shifting of her eyes however it seemed he wasn't discreet enough.

With a quirk of her lips she reached down to her side and retrieved what appeared to be a simple handle. With a flick of the switch a small, knife-like laser beam emerged from the handle. As he tensed she simple and slowly reached down with the knife and began to cut away at the tape keeping his feet together, his taped hands were soon to follow.

"Uh... thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied as she deactivated the laser knife, stowed it away and offered a helping hand up. "Don't be afraid. It would hardly do to harm you for no good reason after all," she coyly said with a matching smile.

Glancing at the captured captain and seeing she nor anyone else was going to make a move toward releasing him, he reluctantly accepted the helping hand and was pulled up to his feet. As he stepped out. While doing so he couldn't help but observe her more attentively.

Standing roughly just at his chin, her dark and lustrous hair was kept tame by a green hair band poking out. Regardless of that however her cream colored face was framed by two wavy locks of hair, both of which made her red eyes stand out all the more. From her neck and below though she wore a black leotard with a visible tint of red to it. Instead of being complete though half the chest was missing, leaving half of her chest exposed but covered with a red violet garb akin to a bra which was seemingly a part of the leotard itself. Both of which though were partially obscured by a white-gray mantle that bored a black, waist-length cape which left the front open. At any rate however at the base of her right leg a similar division was made only with no form of connection was present between the leotard and the leg stocking she wore which was further adorned by a red-violet strap of a decoration. The boots she wore were also black as well yet in the simplest form of its color. Each boot though was topped with a red-violet ring to help discern themselves from the suit proper.

Before he knew it she gave his hand an extra squeeze and her lip quirked as if she had answered some unspoken question.

"Judging from your clothes, you must be a cadet, yes?" she asked as she let go of his hand. "Have you just joined or are you coming back from a school break as it were?"

He couldn't help but squint at her. Like with Seto she wasn't the least bit fazed by it in any manner. "I just joined. I haven't really started my career just yet," he answered her and elaborated.

At this the woman's smile widened. "I see. Then allow me to extend you an invitation," she said as she raised her hand to him once more much like she had done when she helped him stand up. "I want you to join my crew."

"You would have unlimited potential if you aligned yourself with the right ally. We could very well help each other. Who knows, maybe one day I could be taking orders from you."

The three crewmen gasped and lurched forward by a single step, hunching over in excitement. "A madam!"

"Wife!"

"Master!"

"So what do you say?" Ryoko continued as if none of them had said a word, her attention focused solely on Ichigo even as they leapt a little closer before Ichigo could even answer.

"C'mon!"

"Go for it!"

"We could be your advisors!"

Altogether they formed a three-man pose with fingers pointed dramatically in a single direction. "Take us! All three for the price of one!"

At this her attention finally broke to the three crewmen just as Ichigo began to pop his knuckles. "Touch me and you're dead!" she sternly snapped.

With a collective "aw" all three of them deflated in place. Before they or Ryoko knew it however Ichigo had leapt from his spot and wailed upon the lunkheads long before they could even half heartedly defend themselves. In seconds flat they were all flat on the ground with newfound bruises and welts, each one groaning before falling unconscious from the beating.

"That was for knocking us out and tying us up," he growled at them before turning to Ryoko Balta once more who again bore her nonchalant smile. Her eyes were alight with quiet amusement however that she didn't try to hide. It even affected her smile somewhat. That is until Ichigo finally spoke up once more with his trademark scowl.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to pass on your offer."

"But why?" she asked with a frown of her own on her lips.

"Because I already joined the GP," he said, his frown deepening. "And if I leave it, it's going to be because I want to. Not because of a better job offer or personal gain, but because I want to."

"Won't you reconsider?" she asked, her pout deepening as if it could somehow sway him.

"No," he stated with finality.

Her pout was lost to a neutral frown on her face as she stared at him, again not intimidated by either his demeanor or scowl as he stared back. Then, after what seemed like a brief eternity she smiled a bit sadly at a battle lost.

"Very well then. I see your mind is made up, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I just pray you do not regret it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Right. I don't own anything.** **Has that not been established yet?** **I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning!** **This story is for entertainment purposes only!**

Spirit Police

Chapter Four: Primum gradum

Ship

It all ended... surprisingly pleasantly. After accepting her defeat towards enticing Ichigo into joining her crew with grace Ryoko Balta only a little longer to help herself to a buffet the trio of helmsmen, and Mitoto, she was a case onto herself that he was content with ignoring, had set up in her honor. From there she obliged them with a photo... a group photo no less at her request however. While even a freed Captain Placeholder reluctantly acquiesced, the trio's brief jubilation was murdered between a combined assault from Ic higo and Warren, adding to their mounting wounds. As such and despite this the trio, covered in fresh bruises and the like, were happily grinning away with what few teeth they had left to their names in their photo whereas Ichigo and Warren were the only ones scowling throughout the ordeal; a natural and common event and a foul mood respectively. Once it was all said and done Ryoko simply departed at her own leisure, thankfully with no fanfare either. The dour pair made sure of that, not that Ryoko seemed to have minded in the least during the final moments of her visit.

But that was then.

Now though, after performing many a jump while tolerating the once mutinous trio of pilots, what annoyance Ichigo had left gave way to sheer mind numbing awe as he beheld what was dubbed as the headquarters of the GP. Six near identical rings arrayed with one another almost like a classic depiction of an atom's electron's pathway, a distinction he was only able to make when a secondary, smaller screen popped up within eyeshot to the colossal slowly curving wall that greeted the main screen like the indomitable sight it was.

"... how big is this place?" Ichigo breathed as he tried to comprehend the mere notion of how large this space station was.

"Simply put, each ring's diameter is very capable of fitting an entire galaxy within it," Warren helpfully supplied as the pilots chatted amongst themselves about 'welcome code's and signals received from the station before them. All of which were ignored by Ichigo who turned his bulging eyes to the man. The captain's response was to only smile as he held up the same wrist which prompted the phantom screen he had used much earlier to appear. "Would you like me to give you Earth's estimation of its measurements?"

"No. No thank you..." Ichigo practically begged as he returned his attention back to the 'wall' that became the ship's horizon. His eyes however did flick over to a strange series of lights seemingly materializing in space itself much like a runway before them a moment later.

"Cohen! The line!"

The portliest member of the trio snapped himself back into attention from whatever it was he was doing and scrambled with the keys of the console before him. Even so something struck the ship and rocked it with enough force to knock Ichigo off his feet and tumble about on the ground for a brief moment.

"Connection successful. Bay doors are opening."

"Engine output is down."

"Clearing granted. Now returning to port."

"Please tell me that this isn't normal," Ichigo groaned as he pushed himself back onto his feet. By the time he focused his attention back to the primary screen, the secondary one having been deactivated, he was treated to the sight of them slowly being pulled into what appeared to be a shipping, perhaps maintenance bay with its doors wide open. Beyond that was what appeared to be one of a series of blue-white tunnels just beyond the bay doors proper whilst they slowly drifted over a few GP cruisers far larger than their own ship being serviced by what looked to be drones and automated cranes.

"No. Though to be fair everyone slips up every now and then when it comes to the E-Line," Captain Warren sighed as he sank into his chair. He then perked up, brought his sleeve up and conjured the screen up once more. A keyboard subsequently appeared afterward, his fingers already tapping at it. Whatever it was he was doing it definitely required him to skim over something before smirking to himself with a surprisingly devilish characteristic to it. The puckish kind in fact. He then took a moment to look over the screen to peer out to the main port window just as the nose of their ship entered a proper docking bay before pressing a button on the keyboard. It wasn't even a second later that a practically universal symphony began to imperiously thrum throughout the bridge, causing many a curious stare to be turned to the man as he settled into his chair, his hands steepled as a smug and surprisingly villainous grin spread across the man's closed lips.

"... so why the Imperial March?" Ichigo drawled.

"I thought it was... appropriate."

With his smirk never changing he tilting his hands so as to point out the window. Once more out of curiosity the eyes that were upon the captain were now drawn to the screen... of the sets on hand, three of which gulped in trepidation. "Is that a security team... waiting for us?" one of the crewmen whimpered.

Ichigo only grinned as the ship drifted to what seemed to be its predetermined destination. There, on the platform next to it that seemed to act as both a dividing level for other docks as well as the floor, was a team of eight people in what looked like GP's version of riot gear armed with nothing but batons, all of whom were lined up like a squad of soldiers ready to storm the ship.

 _"_ _You didn't think I was going to let that go, did you?"_ Warren uttered with an amused, self satisfied grin.

XVX

GP Immigration Reception Area #258, minutes later, Galaxy Police Headquarters

He was stilling grinning to himself since the security team practically stormed the bridge and hauled off the trio of helmsmen before they could begin to struggle, much less run had they had the collective sense to do so in the first place. Regardless, his good mood was what kept him from being outright irritated with the apparent wait for him to pass through immigration, a must for potential recruits and even visitors. The lines were separate however depending on the purpose, thankfully. Or more accurately it kept him from frustrated from the fact that their ticket to see a GP inspection agent was composed of _six digits_! Granted from the shifting monitor above them, one of many that practically decorated a seemingly glass dome that kept the bubble of a garden styled reception area from being absolutely drowned by a strangely atmospheric backdrop of water that submerged said bubble for reasons unknown, the 'line' was moving at a reasonable pace despite being at an already ridiculously long, by his standards at least, number of 563,281 and counting. Sadly this was only a cold comfort considering that it was their luck that they were number 957,533 however...

The sentiment was also shared by Warren at least, alleviating Ichigo's mood if only a little with his shared exasperation. Even so, there they were at a table along the edge of the domed area. Practically counting the seconds as time passed by with little more to do than to watch the other immigrants and cadets mill on by and find other means to passing the time as they too awaited their own turn with an Immigration Inspector. "We must have came in during a rush hour," the captain sighed.

"There he is Grusoff! Quick! Quick!"

The sheer volume of the excited booming voice was enough to draw their attention as well as a few other curious tourists and would be cadets. It took them a few moments however to realize the source of this disturbance, a truly colossal man roughly twice Ichigo's height with the of a physique of a pudgy Buddha statue, if it had a full beard, mustache and wore a red fez in combination with a black and white GP uniform, was heading straight towards them with the giddy step of a five year old making a bee line for Santa's lap. Nor was this man alone. With him but not sharing his enthusiasm was what looked to be dog-like humanoid being dragged along... no matter desperate he was with his hands tugging on the giant's belt while digging his feet hard enough into the ground to plow through the dirt it was to no avail. It should be noted that he too wore a uniform similar to the giant's own, only minus a fez and with a healthy dose of brown to compliment his predominantly black uniform.

"Sir! Take it with a grain of salt! The last three didn't qualify after all!" the dog-man grit out as he continued to unsuccessfully reign the lumbering man back.

"Who are they?" Ichigo almost groaned as he squinted at them.

"I have no idea," Warren answered as he curiously eyed them as well. "Wait a minute," he muttered as he came to squint at something seemingly on the chest of the larger man. Likewise, after catching onto what Warren was doing, Ichigo quickly found an odd mark on their uniform and came to stare at it in hopes of discerning their position, and by proxy their purpose, despite being unfamiliar with GP as a whole. Despite this flaw however that was indeed what had happened when he noticed the emblems on their uniforms in lieu of a semi-decorative gem like most GP officers he had seen thus far: upon their chests was the emblem of S-Vise. It would seem they weren't content with simply waiting for him to arrive.

"Ichigo Kurosaki I assume?" the giant announced once they were close enough for him to tower over him almost like a giant puppy with a thick accent... He almost sounded like he was Russian Ichigo idly noted. Almost.

"Uh... yes?"

Almost the second he uttered his reply a massive hand was outstretched before his face , offering a handshake that would undoubtedly engulf both his hand and arm in one go if he tried to reciprocate the gesture.

"Vector Bor, your Commanding Officer, at your service!" he offered friendlily with a proud smile whereas his companion heavily and drearily sighed.

"Um excuse me—" Warren tried to edge in before being interrupted by the dog-man.

"Lieutenant Grusoff," he sighed as he finally relented the fruitless hold on his CO's belt, walked around him and waved at the human they were addressing. "And basically I'm going to be your proctor to see if you qualify for our division or not. If you do then I'm also going to be at least one of the guya who teaches you the nuances that comes with being a part of S-Vise."

"Wait, S-Vise? What are you—wait, one of the... 'special departments?" When all three heads of those previously involved turned to look at him, Warren stammered for a brief moment. "N-not that anything is wrong with that! It's just... a little... early... for... headhunting?"

"Geez, one division embezzles and everybody suffers for it," Grusoff groused before snapping a finger in Warren's direction. "Besides, that was in a different division altogether damn it! Don't lump us in with those jackasses!"

"Now now Lieutenant," Vector pleasantly admonished before outstretching his still offered hand to the captain. "Colonel Vector Bor, Commander of Spiritual-Vise. How do you do?"

"Uh... Captain Warren Placeholder from Transportation," the shorter man replied as he took the giant's hand and shook it, half of his arm being engulfed for it when Vector enclosed his hand to shake Warren's. It was surprisingly gentle from the looks of it. "This is just... highly unusual," he muttered a moment later, earning a snort from Grusoff.

"He gets excited at the prospect of new candidates."

Warren offered an uneasy smile but a more understanding chuckle as he retrieved his arm. "Be that as it may, he still has to undergo immigration procedures first before anything is said and done."

"True! Very True. My apologies!" Vector heartily agreed. "And we would be more than welcome to walk him through it in your place if you so wish!"

At this the captain blinked rather curiously at his larger counterpart. "Uh... do you mind if I..." He lifted his arm and then gestured to the gem upon its cufflink.

"Of course! Of course!" Vector assured him.

Without further prompting Captain Warren arouse from his seat and walked away to a more secluded spot just as a screen appeared above the cufflink.

"So... I take it he's usually like this?" Ichigo asked Grusoff, drawing the dog-man's attention just as the human gestured to the giant man. At this the lieutenant snorted once more, albeit more softly despite its annoyed nature.

"Yeah... that and, well, it's been kind of a few bad years. Can't exactly blame him really for getting excited about refilling the ranks after awhile."

Ichigo's neutral scowl turned more serious. "How bad?" At this the dog-man sighed as he lazily waved a hand.

"Eight ended up having to retire for either advanced age or health conditions, another twelve ended up contracting something during their assignments and died, and another five died in the line of duty. That may not sound like a lot but we get maybe three recruits _at most_ a year if we're lucky. Past fifteen years though? None whatsoever. Even with five hundred people in the same division with you the numbers we lose are kind of felt whether you knew them personally or not."

"four-hundred and eighty-two," Vector corrected much to Grusoff's subdued chagrin. "They were good comrades, each and every one of them."

"Save for Xerql," Grusoff muttered. In a blink of an eye the back of his head was slapped hard enough to deck the dog-man into the lawn, leaving Ichigo flabbergasted at the sheer speed in which the giant's arm had moved at. To add to the fact that it almost looked like he had never moved his arm at all, period, Vector was simply standing at attention as he seemingly waited for Warren to return whilst Grusoff grumbled to himself as he pushed himself back up. As he stood up and brushed himself off he gave his CO a flat glare. It wasn't acknowledged in the least on Vector's part.

"Alright," Warren said as he approached the group looking a tad frazzled but no worse for wear. "Everything is in order. Good luck then Cadet. Colonel." The captain snapped off a salute with a smile which was returned in kind by Vector. Ichigo simply lazily waved at him in return, not that Warren seemed to have minded it at all before walking away once more to the closest public exit. He stopped midway however before turning around and coming back to them with an embarrassed laugh on his lips. "I almost forgot!" he laughed as he handed Grusoff the placement ticket. "Have a good day!" he announced as he trotted off once more.

"Alright let's see what we have—" Grusoff started to say as he looked to the ticket only to then snap his head to nearest screen. His gaze then drove back to the ticket before again looking to the screen which just rounded off at 570,000.

"AH CRAP! WE'RE STUCK IN A RUSH!"

"Ooooh... not again," Vector deeply whined.

XVX

Five hours later...

It was long, it was grueling, Grusoff even nearly managed to escape at one point after trying wait it out for two hours, but they made it. One could only read a free copy of a GP Academy student's handbook and reluctantly try to dredge up a conversation on _anything_ that came to mind so many times respectively! Worse yet after discovering that they had phones for free use he still couldn't get a hold of his landlord back on Earth! But in the end they had made it. They. Had. Made. It! Kurosaki one! Bureaucracy... whatever! It was a shared sentiment that they just wanted it over with. As such no one commented in the slightest when he practically slammed the pad that essentially started the entire debacle in the first place into the receptor before the glass booth of the desk they reported to...

... of course, that was before he got a good look at who the inspector was when the pad essentially disintegrated within the receptacle only to reappear within eyeshot on the desk at the other side of the glass divider.

"Kiriko?"

"Oh? You know her, comrade?"

"Please tell me she's not a vengeful ex," Grusoff groaned as he screwed his eyes shut and palmed his face. "I don't want to go through that nightmare again, colonel."

"He was indeed most vindictive," Vector agreed with a squirm.

Ichigo half listened to them as he intently stared at the woman before him in a vain attempt to disprove that said woman in the red overcoat over her uniform was indeed Kiriko. Likewise he couldn't help but get the niggling feeling that the feeling was mutual on her end as she intently looked at the closed case now in her hand as if she could read through the cover and operated the keyboard at the same time with surprisingly perfect coordination.

"Inspection complete. Immigration approved," she suddenly announced. A moment later the glass door next to the window opened into the room where she was working in. Beyond that he noticed a secondary door in the back of the room opened as well, presumably leading into the depths of GP headquarters proper.

"Thank god," Grusoff sighed in relief. Likewise Vector patted him on the shoulder before rounding behind the man to saunter to the door. He of course was beaten by an otherwise reluctant cadet who all but tentatively stepped into the room first.

The two stared at one another for a moment, a natural neutral scowl matching her more professional yet neutral scowl, their expressions alike in all but gender. She however relented first, marked so by the softening of her features in the company of a gentle smile. "I'm glad to see that you're alright, Ichigo."

"Y-yeah... thanks," Ichigo muttered as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "... it's nice to see you too."

Her smile gained a warmer touch before fading away as she adopted a more solemn mask of concern. Regardless, she got up from her chair and stepped forth to Ichigo himself. She then reached out and gently took his hand which she held with both of hers. "I don't know why you came out here, but... as wondrous and amazing outer space can be, it can also be extremely dangerous. Merely joining the GP immediately puts your life at risk: the pirates themselves will not care if you're so much as a cadet or a custodian rather than an officer or a soldiers should they find you!" She gained a more mournful touch to her features as she looked down to his hand which she gently squeezed. "Please, just return home. Live peacefully on Earth..."

Grusoff was held back by the Commander's hand even as the man sucked in his guy, ducked down and squeezed himself into the room during the silence that followed. It was only when he was sure that Grusoff had the presence of mind not to act out rashly at that moment that he spoke up. "I apologize for interrupting, but Mister Kurosaki has indeed qualified for my division. Even if that was not the case he is more than capable of making decisions for himself. The fact that he is here should speak volumes onto itself."

"You be quiet!" Kiriko snapped as she leveled an outright fierce death glare on the giant. The sheer ferocity of which was enough to take him by surprise, causing him to stiffen if only for a moment. Grusoff in the meanwhile leveled a more deadpan glare at the scene. "Great, an overprotective girlfriend instead."

"We're not in a relationship!" she barked at the dog-man next.

"Then why are you trying to get him to leave!" he accused as he launched a finger at her. "We're the ones bleeding for recruits at the moment, damn it! At least give us a chance to kick him out to the Academy proper when it's all said and done!" He wasn't deterred in the slightest when a half hearted but reproachful chop to the head was brought down on him from his CO.

"That's enough, Grusoff."

"We are not in a war and even then the Galaxy Police are not soldiers! We are not here to just collect as many warm bodies as we can find just to simply—!"

"Kiriko."

She halted mid rant to stare at Ichigo in surprise as if he had just appeared out of thin air. It was also more perturbing for her to see how serious the young man was even if she utterly ignored his iconic scowl in place.

"Unless there is some sort of law or bylaw in place that outright bars me from entering the galaxy at large, I'm joining the GP." Gently he withdrew his hands from hers. "Regardless if it's a mistake, regardless of my reasoning, I plan on seeing it through no matter what it entails."

"Aw. Does that mean you didn't come here just for me then? That's a little disappointing..."

All heads turned to the newfound voice who was leaning against the open door to the back of the booth. Upon seeing her catty grin a certain eye twitched...

"Amane Kaunaq," Kiriko practically growled. She did growled aloud a moment later however as the identified detective practically teleported across the room to lean against the now blushing cadet. With a sultry smile, a wicked gleam of her eye and a raised finger now caressing one spot on his chest, it was all Kiriko could do in order to _not_ leap over and tear Amane's head off.

"It does show character though," she purred. "Perhaps when you're done with all this we could go out for dinner some time..."

"Lucky bastard," Grusoff scoffed from the side.

"That is enough," Vector finally spoke up as he reached over and plucked Ichigo off the ground by his collar much to Amane's obvious chagrin. Not to mention Ichigo's annoyance as well as he found himself partially strangle by his own shirt.

"Hey!"

"We have papers to sign, testing to do, and it would be inconsiderate to everyone else awaiting immigration procedures if we dawdled much further," the commander announced as he hefted Ichigo away to the rear door.

"Ack! Damn it! At least let me walk on my own!" Ichigo protested.

"H-hey! We're not done yet!"

"Oh back off! You already cleared him!"

"Why you—"

" _That's enough!_ "

Like with Amane all attention was drawn to the voice of authority that barked from the speakers in the room. Not only that but everyone who was capable of it stood at attention and almost immediately saluted before a large phantom screen appeared and gave way to the image of a stern older woman with Mitoto's complexion and matching hair color.

" _Kiriko Masaki and Amane Kaunaq. The chair woman wishes to see you._ _Please come to her office immediately._ _As for you, Vector Bor, Grusoff Marçer, Ichigo Kurosaki, please proceed through the enrollment process and report back to your division."_

"Ma'am!" the two men snapped off before turning on their respective heel and marching out the door with Ichigo still held out like a caught fish. In the meantime Kiriko, once the screen and its video feed was canceled, turned to glare at the both of them whilst Ichigo continued to struggle and wriggle in his impromptu noose. The glare was also aimed at Amane the moment she glanced over only to catch a smug grin on her lips... said glare wasn't without challenge however.

XVX

Training Room #19, S-Vice Division Headquarters

The enrollment procedures were surprisingly simple... other than signing some paperwork, or rather electronic files and essentially standing still on a platform, as well as subsequently placing his palm on a tablet, as it presumably recorded his bio-signature, he had to be fitted with an ear piece to act as a temporary autotranslator for those moments where the apparent system in place just couldn't reach the parties involved—it helped with explaining understanding how everyone supposedly spoke Japanese for him at least. What constituted as his luggage however was taken from him with the assurance that it would be placed in his assigned quarters by the time he arrived at his dorm. Beyond that however he was simply amazed by everything: advanced technology almost straight out of a sci-fi movie was a given, not to mention the more bizarre clothing designs and hair styles he occasionally spotted amongst the surprisingly Earth comparable crowds... as far as fashion styles were concerned at least; like with the advanced technology it was also a given to see green skinned women being wooed by space captains, furred humanoid beings who could only speak in animalistic roars, dog-like people like Grusoff, insectoid creatures and so on. But that was neither here nor there. The minute he stepped into the ring shaped space station proper he was almost floor by the sheer magnitude of it all that presented itself to him once more and thensome... Trees and greenery were everywhere in either wild pockets like natural wildlife or as cultured attractions to be placed amongst the plazas and walkways they ventured through whenever they didn't take a teleporter for varying reasons. There was oceans to be beheld, _OCEANS_ _INSIDE A SPACE STATION_ , majestic mountains to gazed upon, all of which were brilliantly illuminated by an artificial sun slowly striding across the 'sky' above them. Were it not for the glass like paneling just above entire cinematic strips projecting a sky he would have easily forgotten that he was in a space station. The same could also be said for the almost stupefying width of the station itself where if one was far enough then no one could see either of the predominant walls that barred them from space proper do to the sheer distance from either of them. As such he was almost left breathless as he tried to once more comprehend mere size of the space station and all that implied...

But that was neither here nor there now, thankfully. In a way he couldn't help but be happy when he was eventually escorted to and confined in a large room virtually identical to Kisuke's own training room beneath his shop. In fact the only marked difference he could tell was that it lacked the plateaus and mountains Kisuke was seemingly fond of between whatever use he could find as well as thematic aesthetics. But in a way it was familiar, nor was it as grand and diverse as what the 'outside' that was the 'outdoors' of the space station proper. In fact it felt a bit more confined but not suffocatingly so. Regardless of this though he wasn't alone.

Before him was Grusoff who was in the process of cracking his neck and lazily rolling his shoulder, both of his eyes closed all the while whilst facing them. Beside Ichigo, to his left specifically, were two others. Presumably new recruits like himself. A young blond haired girl with pointed ears and wearing a blue sundress who looked no older than a middle school student at the most was trying not to fidget as she eyed everyone and everything in nervous wonder. Next to her to her own left was another dog-man much like Grusoff if the latter reminded Ichigo of a high schooler. Unlike their comrade however he looked like he was about to fall asleep on the spot instead.

"Alright," Grusoff spoke up at least as he finished with his half hearted stretching and looked at them. "I'm going to be honest, I usually give out a little speech before we get started but frankly I have a date tonight and that Immigration rush did no one any favors," he sighed. "So I'm just going to give you the short version here."

"As it stands all three of you had spiritual abilities at one point in time. Sadly though you all lost them sometime later. For the next two months we're going to do everything we can think of to either jumpstart your abilities back into working order from whatever coma they're in or bring it back to life by practically force feeding it within a feeding tube if that 's what it takes. Unless some exception was to occur to consider inducting any of you as official members of S-Vice like being some kind of spiritual vampire or the like, we're going to kick you out into the Academy itself where if you're not a pencil pusher or a package jockey then you're going to be a beat cop for all I care. Am I understood?"

"Yeah."

 _A nervous squeak of confirmation._

 _A yawn._

A throbbing vein was formed at the other dog-man's response. Instead of berating him for it like a drill sergeant, he restrained himself to reach behind himself and withdraw what looked to be a remote. "Let's get _started_ then..."

 _Bip!_

It happened too fast for him to register it at first. The ground gave way as if it suddenly dissolved, opening into a cavernous pit tinged red from a glow further down blocked by earthen rocks. It was when he forcibly landed on such a platform that his mind finally kicked in despite it being too late to save him much less anyone else from sprawling out on the gargantuan rock that broke their short fall.

"Let's see what you can do rookies!" Grusoff called out from above.

"Son of a—"

 _Krrrr..._

" _Crap!_ "

Like before the floor they were upon gave way with little warning. Needless to say they were unprepared for the drop, especially when they were all scrambling to their feet with the earnest hope of making it to safety. Unlike before however there was no shelf or ledge or catch them. Worse yet the glow's source was identified, waiting for them at the _bottom_ of the chasm they were in...

 ** _Lava._**

Panicked by the situation at hand, he didn't notice the unnamed dog-man managed to clutch onto a crevice and scurry into its safety. As for Ichigo, in his wild flailing his hand groped and caught something before he could see what it was. Instinctively he latched himself to it, slamming himself against the wall with surprisingly no pain as his arms clutched the vine he found himself holding for all that it was worth... Their third cohort wasn't as lucky however.

Perhaps because of his own survival instincts kicking into overdrive he unintentionally ignored his unnamed comrade's terrified scream as she continued to plunge straight down the chasm with utterly no hope of catching onto something like her male counterparts. Worse yet, though she was nowhere near anything nor was there anything that would come close to her, she was curled into a ball as she screamed bloody murder as she hurtled toward the lava awaiting her from below, destroying any hope at all that she could save herself if no one intervened...

It was reason enough for Ichigo to move.

Eying the area below her for what it was worth he spotted a few ledges and some vines. It would take a miracle to reach them yet it was enough for his half cocked plan. Before he even knew it he had launched himself from the safety his vine provided, not that he cared. No, he spent his focus on narrowing his form as best he could to drop faster to his fellow cadet who had an ample lead on him. Who was much closer to the lava than him. Pathetic as it was he thrust his hand out despite the fact he couldn't reach her, his feet kicking at the air in an equal attempt to prevent a horrific fate suddenly cast upon them. With each second that passed however, with each kick that drove itself harder and harder into the air, with each centimeter that brought him marginally closer to him, his withheld terror and mounting frustration stemming from it wildly grew into panicked levels of excitement overrode his ability to think once more, bringing with it memories from long ago that he once fought hard to forget for the sake of trying to live a normal life: a night where a monstrous creature wearing a bone mask was holding one of his sister's within its claws. Of a shinigami stabbing him in the chest and offering him her power. Of a sword borne from his own soul being yielded to drive the monster away...

 _DOOMF!_

He didn't know how but he startled himself when he suddenly accelerated forth and slammed into the falling cadet. Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, her likewise returning the favor, as he stared at his impending doom as he was now hurtling toward a small section of the stone floor most decidedly away from whatever means he could use to slow himself... At least he wasn't diving into the lava itself.

"Crap..." he muttered before closing his eyes seconds before smashing into the floor. Though there wasn't much he could do, he tucked his fellow cadet's head under his own to provide it with what meager protection he could.

... to his confusion however the landing, rough was it was, didn't hurt in the slightest.

To his _greater_ confusion he bounced off the floor like it was an inflatable castle's floor! What's more, do to his angle, he bounced off the floor and smacked into the wall only to be repelled much the same without any discomfort greater than jarring him like a ragdoll clutching onto another ragdoll and sending him skidding along the floor till he reached the edge where his head lolled back over the river of lava. Or rather what _looked_ like lava. While not an expert in volcanic science, even he knew being this close should be giving him third degree burns! Yet there was no heat period. In fact, now that he was paying attention, the ambient temperature was no different than when they were on top of the chasm to begin with!

With a a heavy scowl he slowly turned his head and squinted at the red, inert substance that was trying to blind him instead of melt him. His scowl only grew worse when he grunted as he unwrapped an arm from his ward to reach over and touch the stuff without getting up, all the while the sounds of jubilant one man cheering that was echoing in from overhead. Regardless of that however it was finally concluded when he pressed his hand against the 'lava' only for the 'substance' to squish and bounced much like the floor he slammed into.

"Hello Cadet Kurosaki!"

Scowl still in place, he snapped his attention to the source of the noise only to see the phantom screen being deployed much like he had last seen it. Only this time instead of a middle aged woman with tanned skin and blond hair it was a brunette looking closer to her late twenties. Not only that but she had what appeared to be a blue tear drop tattoo on both of her cheeks. Nevertheless however she had quite possibly the largest, dopiest grin on her face whilst what sounded like an impromptu party was occurring right out of the camera's sight, party poppers, party whistles and all with the addition of very loud whooping.

"Manda Ires," she introduced herself. "You're probably wondering what's going on so I'll cut to the chase: like Grusoff said, we're going to play dirty if it means kickstarting your powers! And nothing quite like a near death experience gets to kick the body into pulling out all the stops! And thank s to that you, dear sir, now have your powers back!" she chuckled before glancing to something off screen and frowning for a moment. "Or at least a fraction of it. Whatever though! See you at the party, Streak Breaker! WOO!"

The screen promptly disappeared and with it the earthen coloring of the artificial chasm, revealing what looked to be a programmer's digital construction sheet of the entire scenario complete with little white lines to help emphasis certain structuring. The only thing that wasn't either blue or white was a ramp leading back up that was highlighted green to better catch the eye. Likewise solid platforms of energy were phased into existence to let their other classmate out from the crevice he found himself in.

Looking down at his chest where his rescued fellow cadet lay he found her unconscious on his chest which she continued to hold in a death grip. He then rolled his head around the chasm once more before plopping his head against the floor proper with a sigh.

"You're all psychos," he breathed.

"Screw you! I'm happy!" Grusoff barked from above. "THE STREAK IS OVER! YEAH!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Right. I don't own anything.** **Has that not been established yet?** **I especially do not own either Bleach or Tenchi Muyo GXP in any sense of the word and/or meaning!** **This story is for entertainment purposes only!**

Spirit Police

Chapter Five: Multo turbamini de nihil

Galaxy Police Headquarters, three (Earth) weeks later

"Alright. Just take a deep breath and do not think of anything. Not a word. Not an object. Not even an abstract thought. Am I understood?"

"Yeah."

As Grusoff had declared beforehand the weeks following that day were basically hell for the two other recruits as both Grusoff and any other instructor who joined in or even replaced the former as they put the pair through whatever semi-demented idea they could think of. Some of which included more stunts much like the _PITFALL_ they were subjected to. Berating them to invoke specific reactions from rage to outright depression if nothing else was another example. Even trying on ( _allegedly_ ) specialized clothing ( _supposedly made with... something-fiber or some such._ _He couldn't bare to look when he saw them wear such revealing outfits..._ ), practicing religious rites and eating certain foods had been utilized as methods in hopes of encouraging some form of spiritual reaction from them. So far nothing had worked for them.

... unfortunately the same could be said for him.

Despite having achieved a recognized signature by their sensors he was unable to perform any extraordinary abilities since that day. Not on command at least. Thankfully he still registered, thus theoretically, in his mind at least, he should be able to perform the most basic functions in the event he was ever deployed out onto the field... yet no one, himself included, was completely satisfied with that, albeit for differing reasons. Regardless if it was to see if he had greater potential or hoping to fully regain what was lost respectively they sent him through a barrage of simulations bearing the same intent as the first one he was subjected to, with added (non lethal) danger to boot to ensure he took it seriously. Even then they pushed him to his physical limits with drills and training regiments, had him eating specialized diets... in essence whatever they put the other two candidates through, he went through. Minus the clothing however. Apparently it was quite the feat and warning to successfully knock out a total of three officers out _without_ having gone through the body enhancement procedure on his part... especially so when he didn't give the slightest damn as to whether or not his arm was in a one day cast ( _the medical facilities were practically magic by Earth's and even the Squad Four's standards!_ ). Needless to say that, despite grievances and the humor, for those who weren't party to these three incidents at least, involved, this particularly _gaping_ method wasn't used. They simply moved onto other means to help gauge Ichigo's abilities and source if he was to ever hope to increase and utilize his reawakened spiritual power. As such he was abused in other ways instead until they stumbled upon a potential lead. Granted it ended up with a fourth knock out and a fourth cast but it was a lead nevertheless... Regardless, from there, on a hunch, he given a new test to see how his fledgling power reacted to certain devices...

Jurai, it's culture and population having the largest spiritually aware populace being throughout the galaxy, were no strangers toward using spiritual energy in powering their technology. Or at least that was the chief theory when their ships were seldom detectable via energy output when on the move, on offense and the like short of ludicrous amounts of power were being expended upon the task... case and point being the Mikigami's arrival amidst the fleet of pirate vessels . Furthermore it was rumored that there were few items on Jurai itself even required electricity yet that was unconfirmed; Jurai apparently was very fond of keeping their secrets to themselves. In any event however, with so few juraians ever joining S-Vise in addition to their more secretive matters, the scientists and engineers of the Galaxy Police were forced to take matters into their own hands. And it showed.

Alternative power source ( _of a spiritual sort_ ) engines for ships. Reactive armor and clothing unassisted by a.i. or a partner, again activated by spiritual power. Cloaking fields without requiring... needless to say that with almost a third of an entire galactic government's worth of geniuses put to task the results were nothing short of equal parts intriguing and astounding at once. Such was the case with the Coalesce Drive: when attached to a weapon of any form and operating in a spiritually rich environment even the most normal non-aware being in the galaxy would be capable of using such an item as it fed off with the excess amounts of power. Outside of such circumstances was another matter entirely however: no matter what it was attached to to act as a power source of be it a gun or a sword to form a blade utilizing the ethereal substance it needed it had to be directly fed spiritual energies to provide as much let alone be activated in the first place. Not only that but, interestingly enough, as to be suspected with such diversity that was the collection of cultures that made up the Galaxy Union and the Police, it couldn't be used by _everyone_ who qualified to join S-Vise, some juraian's included. Suffice it to say that what worked for one, what they could do wasn't necessarily teachable nor transferrable to another. But that was neither here nor there much less the point. In his attempted use of the Coalesce Rod, though he was able to activate it on his own merit by a slim margin, they, the technicians involved in the experiment as well as the proctors monitoring him, were quick to discern that his powers were trying to envelop the rod rather than feed it. In short it was... incompatible with him; not even variations of the same device worked any differently for him. They needed something else...

In short, for all the technology they had available, they needed something _he_ , _Ichigo_ , was intimately familiar with rather than what they could whip up. Spiritual matters were funny like that at times much to everyone's bafflement regardless if they were dedicated experts, experienced laymen or even knowledgeable shaman and priests. Hence the latest device and test he was forced into.

Whether he liked it or not he was lounging back in what amounted to a lounge chair, hands cupped atop his chest as he waited, with a helmet on that covered everything but the area of his nose on down. From what he was told a number of probes within the helmet would be monitoring his thoughts as they occurred. Spontaneous images and even words the second they occurred would be known to those privy to it. Namely the technicians, the proctor and a psychologistwho were to be involved were the ones poking around with his head as it were in an effort to narrow down what he would need to be at his fullest potential if he was to have any hope for growth as a member of S-Vise. Regardless, in an effort to reduce 'white noise,' redundant 'information' that could be borne from an idle thought or a mere flick of the curious eye, the helmet utterly blinded and deafened him to the world save for a microphone for each ear so the proctor could speak to him and thus prompt a more desirable reaction from him.

"We're turning the application on now," the agent said. "Just remember to take deep breaths and keep your mind as clear as possible."

"Right," Ichigo drawled with an exasperated sigh.

"Alright. Let's begin with some basic shapes just to make sure everything is in working order. Try imagining a circle."

Done.

"Alright. A square."

And thus a box was born in his head.

"A triangle."

Yep...

"Okay, good. Let's get a bit complex here. Give me an image of Commander Bor."

Kind of hard to forget the giant man with a fez. Especially when he more or less sees him in the hallways every few hours.

"Good. Now Mikami Kuramitsu."

"Who?"

"Uh... She's the headmistress of the GP Academy."

He was drawing a blank. A vague figure at best. It must have showed.

"... older woman? Dark skin often mistaken for tanned skin? Blond hair?"

Not ringing any bells but it did draw up Mitoto's image. How the hell she she's been breaking into his room only to clean in spic and span every few days was beyond him. Then again wasn't she a part of the maintenance staff and as such have something of a skeleton key?

"No. Not her. She is her aunt however. Let's move on, shall we?"

Well that was news to him. At any rate however...

"Now if you don't mind me asking, may we see your father?"

The moment the image of Goat Face's face came to the forefront of his mind involuntarily invoked a satisfying image of Ichigo punching his old man's face in.

"... you don't really get along with your father, do you?"

"You try waking up almost every morning and coming home each day only to be randomly attacked!"

He didn't doubt for a second that a plethora of memories now crowded their screens.

"My apologies. And my condolences as well... Geez, and I thought my old man was tough on me."

"At any rate, what of your other family members?"

Immediately he thought of his sisters as well as his late mother. Before he knew it his mind flashed back to that dark night... Subsequently it also brought up the night his sisters were attacked just before he received his shinigami powers.

"Holy crap...! Uh... Sorry. My-uh... condolences for your losses."

"Huh? Oh!" With a heavy scowl he lifted himself to sit up in his seat, removed his helmet and practically swiveled to glare at the team seated across the room behind his chair. "I saved my sisters for the record!"

"Oh!" the proctor, some kind of minotaur, murmured in a chastened tone. "My apologies. Just..." He motioned at the monitors a nearby technician was viewing. Sadly due to the angle Ichigo was only able to catch the glow of the screen at the utter most. Even so the bull-like creature seemed to think better of it. "Anyway, would you please sit back and put your helmet back on?"

"Yeah, sure," the cadet grumbled as he did just that.

"Alright," the instructor continued, "since we're already came this far, would you mind showing us how you got your powers to begin with?"

It was hard _not_ to remember Rukia stabbing him in the chest...

"Yeesh... what happened after that?"

He wouldn't admit it to anyone but the sheer memory of him obliterating that hollow was rather cathartic for him nowadays. Well up until the resurgence of his powers at least.

"And after that?"

It was as if the flood gate opened up for him at that point... While the less significant fights with the hollow of the day surely faded from memory, the more he remembered the events that followed after that night the more he began to get lost in his memories. Before he knew it he forgotten what he was doing as he was reminiscing.

"Alright Cadet Kurosaki." Startled, Ichigo was ramrod straight in his seat in his surprise before his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Deep breaths! Try to reign it back for a moment."

With a grumble Ichigo once more complied, albeit with some difficulty as he struggled to reconcile with the fact that he not only agreed to this but was given _forewarning_ in advance. He only had himself to blame for whatever they saw after all.

"Just breath," the proctor advised.

It took awhile but he settled himself as comfortably in the chair, his mind as blank as it could be.

"Alright. Now we're going to do some word association. As you may know when I say a word we want you to think of the first thing that comes to mind in association to that word. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he drawled once more.

"Alright then. Let's get you warmed up first just in case. Joy."

His smiling family and friends whom he hadn't seen in years fluttered into the forefront of his mind.

"Now, Adventure."

It was a composite sketch in his mind: in one section was Amane handing him the GP recruitment pad. Then of Captain Placeholder coming to his apartment and transporting him to the ship before leading him to the Galaxy Police Headquarters.

"Duty."

In an instant it was him as a shinigami once more in pursuit of a fleeing hollow. In the background was his soulless body clutching the substitute's badge.

"Regret."

With a grimace it was him in his old room storing what few mementos he had of his shinigami days into a box in his closet. It was practically one item actually much to his consternation: the badge amidst some letters sent by Rukia, Renji and a few others from the Soul Society.

"Pride."

He almost smirked at the image of his own scowling face scowling at him as he clutched the... badge.

"Alright. You can take off the helmet now."

With a groan he sat up and pulled the helmet off. Without any prompting he got out of the chair as well and stretched before slowly angling his head toward the minotaur-like being as he leaned down over a monitor with someone in a lab coat. The both of whom were practically suffocating the poor technician stuck between them as they intently and quietly discussed something on the screen. He was tempted to walk over and see what was on it for himself yet he abstained. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long since the pair excused themselves from the screen. With a wave of the hand the psychologist excused himself. In a similar fashion the bull-man turned to Ichigo and leisurely strolled toward him as he fiddled with his cufflink. By the time he came to Ichigo he had brought up the phantom screen to hover above the raised cuff. With a finger he spun it around to face Ichigo. On its screen was an image of his old badge.

"You wouldn't by chance have brought this with you, did you?" the proactor ask with a neutral frown. It deepened when Ichigo clenched his eyes shut in irritation. The defeated groan didn't exactly help either.

"It's... back in Karakura Town," Ichigo reluctantly muttered. "I was kind of trying to forget my past at the time."

"I see," the bull-man replied with a small sigh of his own. He then turned the screen back to himself and began to press seemingly random buttons upon the screen's interface. After a few moments he glanced up at Ichigo. "Well the report is ready to be filed. We should be sending someone soon to retrieve that badge from your old abode. Is there anything you want to particularly note before that happens that the agent should be wary of? Your crazed father aside of course."

Ichigo chewed his lip in thought. "If they haven't moved my stuff to the attic or in a storage unit then it should still be in my closet in my old room."

The minotaur almost absent mindedly nodded as he apparently amended his would be report. As he did so Ichigo groaned anew as a... _belated_ realization struck him. In response the Proctor glanced up at him once more. "Yes?"

"Nothing, nothing," Ichigo sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "I just realized I just got so caught up with this that I didn't bother calling them about my decision," he sighed. With another groan he rubbed his scalp through his hair in thought. "I guess now is as good a time as any at this right." He then looked up at the minotaur. "Would it be alright if I called ahead and told them that someone would be coming over to gather my old things?"

The proctor simply shrugged. "It might help," he offered. "You would know them better than any of us, all things considered."

"Thanks," Ichigo muttered as he turned around and headed for the nearest door. He then stopped and looked back to the bull-man who raised an eyebrow in return. "You wouldn't know what time it is, do you?"

His grey eyes flicked over to the screen. "About ten till eighteen-hundred."

Ichigo bit back an exasperation sigh as he amended himself. "You wouldn't by chance know what time it is _on Earth_ do you?"

"Ah. Sorry." After a few quick presses on the screen the answer was soon delivered to Ichigo. "Oh-two-hundred."

Ichigo simply groaned in reply as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess I'll have to wait a couple of hours then," he muttered for his own piece of mind.

"Your call," his proctor absently replied as he returned to his report.

With another groan he dragged his hand down his face as he turned around once more made for the door. "I'm going to get get permission while I wait," Ichigo half grumbled.

"Alright then," the minotaur replied without bothering to look up in the slightest. He still didn't look up when Ichigo promptly turned right the second he entered the hallway and subsequently disappeared from anyone's view. "HR's office is to the left from this area!" the humanoid bull called out in a raised voice without bothering to so much as glance up from the report he was reviewing before sending it. He did smirk however when a slightly red faced Ichigo briefly reappeared once more as he went the other way.

"Rookies," he quietly scoffed to himself.

XVX

Wano Traditional, fifty minutes later

In general the GP Academy did not let their students leave the grounds of the academy's dormitories, much less their rooms for the purpose of roll call, past a set curfew barring existential circumstances such as an emergency or in rarer cases to attend a family member's wedding. Or to attend a celebration practiced by their verified religion being another case. Regardless, this particular rule was also shared with its more tangential branches within the dormitories within the "Special Divisions" such as S-Vise where the students were more required to be there for varying reasons. There was a bit more leeway for these particular branches however. Regardless of which division the cadet in question was aligned with some students have ended up either discovering how to activate their particular skills or learning that some of said skills were far more enhanced in more social settings as opposed to a training field. As such, with permission and often a guardian to chaperone them, some students are given permission to be allowed to leave their dormitories for a set period of time before having to return to hit the sack for their own good.

More often than not though...? Some people really, really, really, really, _really_ wanted something different than what the limited ( _yet surprisingly expansive_ ) menu which provided free meals for cadets and the teaching staff had to offer. Or sometimes just to blow off steam that they otherwise couldn't vent within the grounds and branches. These were not fact the administrators responsible for these forays begrudged in the least. Regardless of the reasoning however Ichigo regretted only one thing about the entire endeavor: his current chaperone, Grusoff who was already on his way out to begin with... to one of his dates no less. Ichigo couldn't necessarily blame him for being annoyed.

"Honey would you please stop sulking?" the dog-man's date sighed as she plucked at her fish with a pair of chopsticks. For the life of him Ichigo wasn't sure what she was. He was tempted to ask but between most likely having to deal with an irate superior in the same base as his dorm and the fact he was just content with grumpily killing time as he tried to both ignore and be ignored by the world around he settled for calling her a "gel-woman" in his head. What constituted as the core of her body was merely a dark vaguely humanoid shape that he was able to see through her 'skin.' As for her 'flesh' itself, it was a light lime green... gel that made her as human-like as possible from her curves to her digits, and from her 'finger nails' to her 'hair' if either even qualified as such despite being made from the exact same substance as her gel-like 'flesh'. Were it not for her 'skin's' more transparent nature he may have actually mistaken her as yet another in a long line of humanoid beings that made up the Galaxy Union.

Regardless, at any rate, Grusoff grumbled his acknowledgement as he almost lamely poked at his rice. In response his date, Viscia, rolled her yellow-green orbs which made up her eyes. Or at least Ichigo thought she did. It was hard to tell when they were simply oval shaped solid colored orbs for eyes. Even so it was impossible to not tell she was looking directly at the cadet with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. He just doesn't take... sudden changes very well."

Ichigo almost snorted. Almost. Instead he bought himself a little time to sip his cup of tea before deigning to reply to her. "Can you really blame him though?" He gestured to himself before to the pair and the surprisingly Japanese style restaurant they were eating in. "Not like everyone likes having their private moments crashed."

"Thank you!" Grusoff half groused as he donned a thankful smile.

Again Viscia rolled her eyes as she returned to her own meal in peace.

... and from there everything went into a semi-uncomfortable silence despite the ambient noise that came from the surrounding patrons. With that working in conjunction with the three hours he had to wait Ichigo had only one recourse left to him.

"Hey Viscia, what division do you work in?"

The dog-man could only groan in response. He was utterly ignored by the gel-woman who turned a friendly smile to the cadet. "Psionics."

The S-Vise cadet dumbly blinked at her in confusion, earning a soft twitter from her. "That's real?" he finally asked. Again she softly chuckled whilst an amused scoff left Grusoff. After a moment the gel-woman collected herself to present a soft smile to the human.

"So matters involving the dead and the supernatural are real and yet matters of the mind and the paranormal are a hoax is it?" she asked with a teasing leer. It was dropped in favor of another chortle at the human's newfound sputtering. Once he managed to marshal himself Ichigo gave out a quiet "I'm sorry" in response. "It's quite alright," she hummed softly.

"Still though..."

She hummed softly before replying to what wasn't said. "Trust me when I say that there are _many_ strange things throughout the universe. Some of which we might not likely ever even hear about before the last star finally dies out within the universe. While I certainly cannot blame you for doubting their existence, much of what is commonly considered impossible has been false in the long run."

With a sigh and a nod the cadet turned back to his meal only to pause so he could glance back up at the gel-woman. "Is the Psionic Division considered a part of the..." He half grimaced as he scowled as he quickly glanced over to his superior. " _Specialized_ Departments?"

"Indeed it is," Viscia promptly replied rather neutrally whereas Grusoff's hackles were raised despite him otherwise not reacting.

"Just wanted to make sure," Ichigo said. "Sorry."

"It's quite alright," she replied once more as her smile returned. "You are new after all."

"Thanks."

... and so the silence returned and he _still_ had time to spare... Unlike before however he clenched his eyes shut as he groaned to himself.

"What is it?"

"Alright, I should know better but I'm curious," Ichigo sighed in defeat.

"Hm?"

"As long as it isn't state secrets or something like that," Grusoff grumbled.

"Which division was the one caught in an embezzlement scandal?"

" _Magic_ ," they exasperatedly sighed and growled respectively. Their reactions aside, Ichigo couldn't help but work his jaw as he tried, _tried_ , to think of a response to that.

"Yeah, _those_ guys you can call **_bullshit_** on," Grusoff growled as he suddenly began to attack his food in earnest. Viscia didn't bother trying to admonish him as she picked at her own dish with remarkably less enthusiasm when compared to her boyfriend.

"... so magic isn't real then."

"It's... debatable," Viscia neutrally answered him. Grusoff however gave an ugly snort which went unchallenged. Either way neither of them were going to elaborate in the slightest.

Ichigo didn't try to break the awkward silence this time around. Instead he chose to eat his meal in utter silence until he excused himself to the restroom. From there, once he was done, he migrated over to a decorative walkway which overlooked a small but beautiful garden bathed in moonlight and simply leaned onto the banister. Out of a growing habit he reached out to his side with a stretched hand and waited for a metallic surface to embrace his palm. When it didn't happen he winced in embarrassment before clenching his hand before half glaring down at the suit he had to wear on the account of being a student: while nowhere near as decorative or as technologically advance as a regular officer's uniform he was afforded the small mercy of being allowed _some_ customization. Even so he was forced to endure it dress-styled service pants, service shoes and a predominantly white over shirt with purple highlights in the form of his collar and a pair of hollow diamond shaped rings which framed the sleeves of his arms. Thankfully he could wear any shirt he wanted under the over shirt and change the color of the mandatory square tie he had to wear with the suit but that was it. But as it was mentioned earlier, the a student's uniform was not remotely as advanced as an enlisted GP officer. As such, as a student, if he needed to use a computer he had to find one. Or, as a privilege afforded to all academy students, use his NB Reasoning Unit... other than keeping notes on his classes and checking on how long he's been in the station he didn't really use it for much else really.

"Oh? Were you hoping to feel up some poor girl's breast? My, you keep on surprising me!"

With a sputter the cadet whipped his head in the direction of the voice as he practically slammed his outstretched limb against his chest. Regardless, with blazing cheeks that either complimented or worked against his glower he scowled at one puckishly yet sultrily grinning Amane Kaunaq who was leaning back against the same railing her had perched himself on. Unlike himself however she was more dressed for the occasion in what appeared to be a rather... form fitting white dress with quite the clit in the front running from her naval before widening to show a generous portion of her breasts before narrowing to a point beneath the dress' two button choker. Aside from a pair of gold bracelets, one a band and the other a hoop, on her wrists and a pair of white dress shoes she wore a black belt that was held together by a series of gold hoops in the front. "Now surely a handsome guy like you doesn't have to be so desperate." Her grin only grew wider the longer he scowled at her in the meantime, his blush fading.

Her smile was lost to a more lady-like scowl of her own however when Ichigo, rather than confront her, decided to take a more tactful approach instead to vent his momentary frustration. "Here on a date I presume?"

"Yeah..." she drawled with a sigh as she craned her head back to the dining area with a flat glare. Out of curiosity he looked back as well with a raised brow. It only went higher when he noticed some guy in a kimono-like dress sprawled out onto the table in a strange mixture of pure depression and overwhelming shock. "I just _haaad_ to entertain the idea of mending fences with my dad," she sighed.

The cadet's brow perked even further at the commentary as she quietly blew a calming breath before hanging her head back, her eyes closed in quiet exasperation. As for Ichigo, he glanced over to the deflated man just as a server came over and nudged him to see if he was still alive. "Some kind of big fight between you and your dad I take it?"

"Something like that," Amane hummed without so much as looking over at him. "He kept trying to get me hooked up with these irritable pansies from 'prestigious' families before I joined the GP with this half baked idea that I might fall in love with one of them and settle down or something. After I joined though the only time we ever talked was whenever he either called or came over to my house to try to drag me back into the family business," she quietly sighed.

He kept looking over to her, his brow lowered to a more neutral stance as his scowl became more contemplative. For a brief moment he could've sworn she cracked her eye open to the barest sliver and gazed upon him. Even if he did the movement was so minute that he only had his suspicions. Regardless she continued with a heftier sigh on her lips.

"And it's not like he hadn't exactly stopped trying to arrange dates for me either." She lazily gestured in the comatose man's direction just as the paramedics arrived to haul him away. A mirthless smirk splayed across her lips. Her unpainted lips now that he noticed; it seemed she forgone any sort of make up at all now that he was really looking upon her surprisingly natural beauty. "I guess it's true about what they say: being bored leads to some bad ideas." Though mirthless, her smirk became a small grin. "Well no harm no foul I guess. It's not like," she paused long enough to stretch back against the railing to the point of arching over it and moaning softly from the exercise, "I had anything better to do at any rate tonight. Besides, I doubt he would've settled with me going on a date with... what's-his-name anyway." She hummed to herself as she relaxed against the railing. "Can't say I didn't try though."

In response Ichigo snorted in mild amusement as he looked out to the garden once more. "Could be worse," Ichigo agreed in a hum of his own. "I guess in his own way he showing he still cares for you if he's still trying. Then again I never met him, so you knows." In the background he could've sworn he heard a plate clattering against something. The kind that happens whenever said dish failed to break against something, but that could just simply be speculation on his part.

Idly he noted out of the corner of his eye that she was moving. It was only when he couldn't help but suspect she was closer than she was before that he bothered to turn his head to look at her only to indeed find her closer to his person, her body using the railing as a means of supporting her body as she leaned in... staring at him in a fashion that made his hair raise in both anticipation and nervousness. In comparison however her smile was relatively normal... if self satisfied.

"Uh... what?" Ichigo practically squeaked as his cheeks burned under her scrutiny. Be it his tone of voice of the more subtle body cues he was most likely radiating without being aware of it her grin became wider, gaining a more dangerous quality to it.

"Oh nothing," she purred as she drew closer. With each step she took Ichigo took a nervous step back whilst their hands 'walked' along the railing. Before he knew it he ran out of space to back into as his back bumped into what almost seemed like an arbitrary wall conjured from nowhere. Even if that was the case Amane continued to stalk him till she was right in front of him, her body practically pressing against his if she took but one more step. Yet as she coyly maintained her distance she finger walked her hand along the arm which still grasped the railing, stopping only when it reached his shoulder. "Say," she breathed so silkily that it raised the hairs on his head, "the evening's still young. We could go out on a _date_ if you want."

"Excuse me Cadet Kurosaki, _Miss_ _Kaunaq_ , but unfortunately I do believe it's time to return to our respective abodes for the night."

Ichigo almost breathed a sigh of relief, _almost_. Regardless however he looked over to the psychic agent with what would've been a grateful frown, if such a thing exists, had he not seen how... She looked serene. She truly did. Yet it was far _too_ serene to be natural, differential biology and psychology be damned! Still though an opening was an opening. If he stayed here any longer then all bets were off! For all he knew he could botch the entire thing because his tongue and teeth were becoming intimately familiar with his foot!

... It was then he realized that he was potentially entering a hair triggered bushwhack over being potentially embarrassed by his own actions with a confident and dominating woman practically offering herself up to him even if it was for her own amusement. Maybe his friends and family were right. Maybe he is a prude. Oh well. Sad as it is, can't miss what one never had to begin with.

"Right! The curfew!" Ichigo practically yelped as he slipped around Amane. "It's been great talking to you Amane but—EEH!"

He yelped in surprise and whipped around whilst grabbing his butt to deliver... not quite a glare nor a bewildered gaze but something between the two upon the perpetrator. Be that as it may however she only gave him a sly wink in the company of a flirtatious smirk before slipping away down a hallway he failed to spot in his retreat. Once the off duty detective slipped out of sight Ichigo turned around and fought down his blush as he rubbed his rear with an indiscernible mumble.

"Hm. Perhaps I was overreacting over nothing."

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing. Just musing to myself," the gel-woman quickly replied as she turned around and made her way to the dining room. Naturally Ichigo followed her. Once he stepped into the dining room he spared a glance over to where their table was only to find a disgruntled pair of servers cleaning up an apparent mess on both the table and the floor. Clueless as to what had happened he shrugged it off and continued to follow the psionic agent outside. From there they walked to the car which a valet was dutifully standing by with the key held out in his outstretched hand. What caught his attention however was his superior officer in the backseat, his eyes glazed, a large welt sprouting from his head and quite a bit of food as well as condiments sticking to his evening attire.

"... did something happen while I was gone?"

"Oh, just him being stupid," Viscia almost angrily muttered as she practically snatched the keys out of the valet's hand. "Not everyone comes from an exceedingly wealthy family after all."

"... okay then..."

XVX

Student Quarters, thirty minutes later

He sighed just as he entered through the door. As of habit he reached out his hand without looking as he sauntered over to a nearby couch. Unlike before it was barely a moment before the NB unit that was assigned to him floated up to his palm and pressed itself against it, activating its computer screen face over its more robotic face. As the cadet sat himself on the couch the NB united floated into his view. With a lazy flick of his finger along the screen presented before him the time was showcased in two large black boxes, one for GP HQ's local time and the other for Japan on Earth. To his groaning dismay it was just past four in the morning there. It was still too early for anyone to be—

 _Bedee! Bedee!_

Immediately the entirety of the screen was blanketed in a black field with but a red icon of a phone ringing in the center of which. Beneath it were the words "Incoming Call" gently pulsating to ensure his attention was caught. The moment this all happened his brow furrowed as his lips curled into a thoughtful scowl as he wracked his mind for answers. Other than the occasional email from his instructors he didn't get much in the way of anything via his NB Unit. Out of curiosity he tapped the screen.

Never had he regretted such an action in his life... on a social scale at least.

 ** _"_** ** _YOU'RE OUT IN SPACE?!"_**

Sometime later he would idly recall seeing a minute image of the tear drop tattoo lady whose name he couldn't remember in the corner of the screen. Her head was bandaged up as if she had just came out of a scuffle and opposed of being in a foul mood over which she was instead laughing rather nervously as she scratched her cheek with one finger. What he did pay attention to however was, other than his irate father taking up the majority of the screen to directly glare at him, that in the corner of the screen and undoubtedly grinning behind his fan was Hat'n'Clogs himself. Ichigo had no idea as to why he would be in the kitchen of his old house while it was four in the morning. He didn't care either—he was _still_ irritated after all!

"Hey dad, do you mind scooting over a moment?"

"And why should I?" Isshin growled.

"So I can give Hat'n'clogs a present.

His father blinked in utter confusion. "What kind of present?"

Ichigo, with surprising calmness, motioned for his father to step to the side which he did with some reluctance. Once he was clear enough to fill in half the screen at most Ichigo afforded himself a bitter smile aimed at Urahara as he held up a lone finger...

"The avian kind."

 **A/N: Well I apologize for the lack of explosions, decapitations, brutal murder and any other arbitrarily named dark theme but this was basically what came out most naturally to me in writing this chapter whilst trying to take a more original path.**

 **But yeah... not every chapter can be a comedy or an action blockbuster despite beating a hole in the wall with your head in an effort to do so.** **At any rate I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


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